Ad Victoriam
by LizzeXX
Summary: Kirk/OC – James T. Kirk may have finally met his match in the sarcastic Victoria, a fellow Cadet. As their friendship forms, something more may come from it. How will they handle the attack on Vulcan and the man who influenced both their lives being taken? What will they do to stop Nero? Will they even realize what they mean to each other? First 'entry' in the Captain's Log.
1. Victory

A/N: Hola! :) This is my second attempt at a Star Trek story as a Kirk/OC, and the first 'entry' in the Captain's Log series, Ad Victoriam (To Victory!) ;) I wrote a different Star Trek series featuring a Spock/OC pairing (The Vulcan Archives) for anyone interested. There's also stories up for Doctor Who, Supernatural, Sherlock, Thor, and Merlin too. To start, just want to say for new readers that I haven't seen much, if any, of the original series or different continuations of it, this story will be largely based on the 2 movies (1 story per movie). This story will be about 10 chapters long, updated daily, and will follow a similar format for my Spock story, being broken up between a sort of flashback/backstory chapter and portions of the movies. I'm doing this just to add a little more background to the relationship Kirk has started to have with the OC.

This first chapter will echo the movie in showing us key moments in my OC, Victoria's, life like with Spock and Kirk at the start of the film. There will be more of a description of the OC later in this chapter (and others) but to help visualize her, an actress that I picture as being similar to Victoria is Carey Mulligan.

I hope you enjoy :)

~8~ is a scene break

Disclaimer...I don't own Star Trek...or I'd have had William Shatner appear with Leonard Nimoy ;)

~8~

Victory

It had been a…strenuous labor. Which was to be expected, neither father nor mother had ever thought they'd even be there, in the medical bay of a Starship, with her in labor. Because they had never expected to experience the labor at all. They had been told, quite a few times, that it would be rather difficult for her to conceive a child, not impossible, but it would be hard, it would take a long while, and it might not happen. But they had tried, they'd kept trying and kept hoping and, after years of it…they'd_ finally_ managed it.

They had been so thrilled, truly ecstatic to find that they were really going to have a child. But because of the difficulty conceiving, they had been sure to take enormous precautions with the pregnancy in general. Vitamins, bed-rest, relaxing activities, no stress at all, and frequent trips to the physicians for scans and progress reports and so many other things just to ensure that they'd actually have the baby in the end. They were not going to risk this gift they'd been given.

And there they were, exhausted (the labor itself had lasted 37 hours), but proud and so happy that they finally had their child in their arms, both their arms. The proud father was sitting beside his wife on the bed of the medbay, his one arm around her shoulders as she leaned on him, his other around the small bundle in pink resting in their arms.

It was a girl.

They were surprised, had wanted to be surprised, about the gender. They'd both gotten the small feeling it might be a boy though, given how hard the baby could kick, but they were both just thrilled that they had their baby now, that it was alive and healthy and safe and with them and they couldn't be happier. Girl or boy, it made no difference because it was average weight, with ten fingers and ten toes and a healthy set of lungs…it HAD to be healthy given how loudly it had screamed and cried when it arrived.

Oh they could just imagine the sleepless nights to come, but they were looking forward to it very much, the chance to be parents, to be _good_ parents.

"What should we name her?" he wondered, they hadn't planned any names really. They wanted to just…take a moment to hold the baby and see what names came to mind, what names suited it, _her_.

"Hmm…" she hummed, "Anything EXCEPT…" she pointed a tired finger warningly at her husband, "Starships. We are NOT naming our daughter Farragut or Hood or Antares…"

He chuckled, he HAD made a few suggestions of a similar sort when they'd first found out they were expecting, but the more…normal names, the ones that _could_ have been names, but he could understand his wife was joking about the 'out there names' but that she truly didn't want a name associated with Starfleet. It was partially his own fault, he came from a very long line of Starfleet cadets, commanders, and captains, nearly everyone in his family for generations was involved in Starfleet in some way, shape, or form. It was quite the 'family business' so to speak.

Starfleet, until he'd met her and until this moment, had been his _life_. It was, well, it was STILL his life, but as equal a part as she and their daughter were. He had actually met her through Starfleet, they had been assigned to the same Starship, had worked side by side, gotten to know each other, and just…fallen in love. They'd gotten married and continued their careers in the Fleet as well. He was on the cusp of being assigned the captain position he'd coveted for ages, and she was making her way up the ranks in the engineering department.

They had their whole lives ahead of them and now they had a little life to share it with.

"Alright, alright," he chuckled, "But…" he looked down at his daughter as she blinked her eyes open, her eyes were blue as all babies' were as the Melanin that pigmented their skin and eyes and hair wasn't fully deposited yet, but he couldn't wait to see what her eyes and hair, for she was entirely bald, developed into. He was hoping she would inherit her mother's hair but his eyes. His wife had the loveliest sandy-blonde hair and she always complimented his eyes. Though he knew his daughter would be beautiful no matter what combination of hair and eye color she had.

"But what?" she lazily turned her head on his shoulder to look at him.

"But there IS one name I was thinking of," he began, "It doesn't have to do with Starfleet," he added quickly, "Not…directly."

"And how 'indirectly' does it have to do with Starfleet?" she smiled, sure that it was just the pain medication that was making her more agreeable to hearing him out.

"Victoria," he suggested, "Starfleet's seen so many victories ever since it was created, more than their losses. They keep growing, they keep fighting, they keep helping and exploring. When they band together…" he shook his head, smiling in thought, "There's _nothing_ they can't achieve. I want that for her," he looked at their daughter again, gently resting a hand on her chest, "I want her to be victorious in anything she sets her mind to."

She smiled and looked down at the girl in her arms, "I suppose it'd be alright to call her that," she nodded, "Yes," she agreed, laughing, "Victoria, hello Tory."

He beamed at that, when his little girl reached out and grabbed his finger, squeezing it, yes…she'd be victorious in everything.

And if she ever wasn't…he'd be there for her.

Always.

~8~

_Ten Years Later..._

Victoria peeked through the doors of her parents' quarters on their Starship. Well it wasn't THEIR Starship, but it was the one they'd both been assigned to, taking her with them. Of course they took her with them, she was only 10!

…and she was currently about to be in SO much trouble!

She leaned in a bit, trying to see if her parents were still asleep, her grey-blue eyes, her father's eyes, quickly flashed around the dark room, squinting. She let out a soft breath when she vaguely made out the small rise and fall on the big bed before her, her parents were still there and_ sleeping_, which was fantastic! She slid into the room, trying to shut the door as quietly as she could behind her, wincing when it made a faint noise. Her mother, according to her father, could sleep like the dead, but her father was far more alert, he would wake up for _anything_. She had to be very careful now, sometimes her dad seemed to have a second sense to him, his 'spidey sense' whatever that was (he said it was something to do with Earth ages before Starfleet) as he liked to call it, he just knew when people were there.

Unfortunately that faint noise was just enough to cause her father to jolt awake, "Huh...wha..." he winced, looking around, squinting in the darkness, "Tory?" he frowned, just barely making out her shape by the door, "It's... " he looked to the bedside, at the time displayed on a small clock, "It's 5 in the morning young lady," he pushed himself up, turning on a small lamp on the table, and moved to sit on the edge of the bed, beckoning his daughter over to him with a finger.

Victoria sighed and padded across the room, up to her father, "It's 5:03," she corrected.

"Cute," he gave her a small smile.

She always had a habit of nitpicking things like that. She got it from her mother he was sure, the punctuality, the eye for detail. She liked knowing the precise amount of things, the exact time and so on. She was like that in timing things, in calculating things to the last decimal. Oh it had been interesting when she'd learned long-division and attempted to find an end to pi, she'd worked at it for a week before giving up on that and only that. She always wanted to know the exact time something took place, the length of time it was, the right date...he could tell just from that that she'd either end up in history, one of the researchers on a starship, or as an engineer.

"Now, what are you doing up so early?"

She shifted at that question, never very good at lying to him and not wanting to answer because she _knew_ that was what would happen if she did.

He sighed, seeming to work out why she was hesitating, "You weren't UP, were you?" he looked at her, "You never went to sleep in the first place did you?" he rubbed a hand down his face as she nodded, "I thought your mother put you to bed."

"She did," she nodded, "But I just pretended to be asleep."

"Why?"

She looked around trying to avoid answering again.

"Victoria?"

She winced at that, she hated when people called her by her full name, it always made her feel like she was in trouble...which she knew she likely was at the moment, "I wanted to make a surprise for you daddy."

He blinked, smiling again, "And what surprise would that be?"

She turned and pulled out a small object from a bag around her shoulder, holding it up to him. He blinked carefully taking it and looking at it in the dim lighting, "Tory...you know you're_ not_ supposed to touch the phasers. It's dangerous! You shouldn't play with them..."

"I know," she pouted, "I wasn't _playing_ though! I was fixing them, like mommy does with other things."

He blinked, "Fixing them how?" he turned the gun-like device over in his hand gingerly, as though expecting it to blow up at any moment.

"It makes colors now."

"It makes colors?" he gave her a look, not quite sure what she meant by that.

"Uh huh, see..." she reached out for the phaser but he pulled it away.

"Why don't you just...tell me instead," he offered, trying to ignore his heart racing at how she'd nearly grabbed the phaser off him again.

"Ok," she huffed, disappointed she couldn't actually _show_ him what she meant, "When you fire, it's one color right?"

"Right."

"I put a filter inside it," she tapped it, "It changed the color without getting all blown up when you fire."

He blinked and stared at her, "You...changed the _color_," he started to nod, seeing what she meant and realizing that future...it most likely laid with engineering over history then. If she'd really been able to manipulate the color of a phaser blast and adapt it, even if it _was_ just a filter, she'd be exceptional at taking apart broken parts of an engine and fixing it.

"Uh huh," she beamed up at him, "It's like those light sticks in that documentary you showed me."

"Light stic...light sabers!" he gave a soft chuckle, recalling how he'd sat her down and they'd watched the 9 movies of the Star Wars franchise once. She'd been rather fond of the purple saber that the character Mace Windu had. Ever since then she'd been obsessed with making other things as colorful as the light sabers. Unfortunately, she was more fond of making the _weapons_ as colorful.

"Now you have a little blasty light saber," she smiled, before blinking, "Do you like it?"

He gave her a smile, seeing her looking at him with the widest eyes, just...wanting to make him proud, "I _love_ it Tor," he leaned over and scooped her up into his arms, rolling over so she was lying beside him.

She blinked and frowned, realizing there was more space on the bed than there should be, "Daddy...where's mommmy? Why isn't she sleeping too?" she'd thought her mother was in the room too, but then again, her father's bed was raised on a small platform with steps to it and she wasn't tall enough to see over him to the other side yet.

He gave her a strained smile, "She's sleeping, don't worry."

"Did she fall asleep in the labs again?" she asked knowingly.

"Yeah," he nodded sadly, "She's been working too hard."

She nodded, moving closer to him and cuddling up as he put the covers over them, "I'm glad you like your present daddy."

"I really do love it Tor," he murmured, staring up at the ceiling as he felt her slowly fall asleep, wondering how on earth he was going to tell her about her mother, "And I love you too, always and forever."

~8~

_Eleven Years Later…_

Victoria paced before the door to her home, her dark, ash blonde hair tied in a messy bun on top of her head. She probably looked a sight, she knew, standing there in wore black fuzzy slippers, light blue pajama pants with clouds on them, a white t-shirt with a starship on it, and a black robe hanging half-open, the belt hardly tie. One would think she'd just woken up, that she'd looked at the clock, rolled out of bed, grabbed a robe, and stumbled into room and just started pacing.

They'd be wrong.

She'd been like that for the last _three hours_, hadn't bothered at all to try and make herself more presentable, but she really couldn't be bothered. She was torn between being anxious to get the mail and dreading getting the mail. She was anxious because…her notification for the Fleet would be coming today, alerting her as to whether she'd gotten into the Cadet program and she wanted to know if she had or if she'd been rejected (though her father said he doubted that would happen, their entire family had been in the Fleet and they wouldn't deny another addition to it). But she was also dreading it because…she honestly wasn't sure if she wanted to know if she'd been accepted either.

It was…a lot of pressure, to be in the Fleet, especially with her family line, to live up to the image and the dedication that her family had given to the organization. It literally was every single member of her father's family. The main descendents (though quite a few of their spouses were also in the Fleet as well) were members of a starship somewhere.

Every. Single. One.

It was enormous, to have that many members of her family acting as engineers and captains and pilots and communications experts, commanders, doctors, even cleaners. And this had gone on for _generations_! Granted most of the members of her father's family were men, there were fewer women which just added even more pressure to her to stick with a future in the Fleet. Because there she was, the latest addition to the family and now it was her turn to either join the Fleet or…join the Fleet because no one in her family would let her live it down if she turned the organization down after they accepted her.

She groaned and ran a hand down her face, what was taking the mail so long?! WHY did the Fleet insist on paper notifications when nearly everything else was done by computer or other electronic forms of communications? It made no sense to her, though she supposed it harkened back to some dormant part of the human mind where they constantly needed validation and proof of their achievements. The Fleet probably assumed everyone would print out their acceptance notices and frame them or something and wanted to try and take a step out for the recipients.

She just wanted to know what her fate would be. It wasn't that she'd done…purposefully bad on her entrance exams and interviews and things, she just…hadn't tried her hardest. She hadn't tried as hard as she knew she could. She hoped it wouldn't come across as arrogant to those who had administered her testings and interviews, she hoped they wouldn't think she was coasting on the success and prestige of her family name. She just…couldn't make herself want it that badly. If she got in, well, then it was just another thing she had to do, if she didn't…it truly wouldn't bother her and she'd have an excuse not to be the target of anger from her family. At worst she'd probably be ridiculed for not making it in when every other member had, but she could handle that.

The letter HAD to get there soon though because she was nearly ready to pull her hair out from all the waiting. She'd tried to sleep as late as she could just to avoid this anxiety but her nerves seemed to have gotten the best of her and there she was. Pacing. Her hair a mess. In her pajamas.

She turned on a heel as she approached a small couch and had just plopped down onto the arm of it…when a paper fell through the slot in the door. She blinked and stared at it, more apprehensive than exasperated with her own luck that she'd finally sit only to have to get up moments later. She took a breath and stood, heading over and scooping up the letters that had fallen in. There were a few little bills, some advertisements, and…a letter from the Fleet. She swallowed hard, setting the other papers down and tore the envelope open slowly, pulling out the paper.

"Congratulations?" a voice said behind her as she read through it.

She nodded, "I got in," she turned, offering her father a small smile.

"That's wonderful!" he beamed, moving to her and hugging her tightly.

Victoria smiled at that, she…didn't get many hugs the last few years. It wasn't that her father didn't give them out freely, it was more he was so busy with Starfleet and she'd been in a University to help prepare her for her applications to the Fleet. She'd started a year earlier than most, had managed to do a 5-year combined degree program, earning a higher degree in nearly the same amount of time. According to her father it would help put her up above the others in her applications. It seemed he'd been right, she'd been accepted as an Engineering Cadet.

Her father was always out, working with the Fleet and she'd been at school so they'd only seen each other during holidays and breaks, the summers, as was part of the program, were dedicated to academia as well so it was literally only those few times she got to see him. She missed his hugs and she was glad that he'd given her one for this.

"I am SO proud of you Tory," he smiled, pulling back, taking the letter to look at it himself.

She gave him a look, crossing her arms, "You knew I got in, didn't you?"

He smirked at her, "I may have pulled a few strings and asked around," he agreed nonchalantly.

"And you let me worry about it?" she asked, mock-offended.

"I wanted you to be surprised," he countered, "It's an outstanding achievement Tor, and I wanted you to be able to open that official letter and get that feeling for yourself."

She nodded, "You're really proud of me?"

"Infinitely so," he winked, "And…"

"What?" she frowned.

"Your mom is too."

She blinked, "How do you know?"

He sighed, nodding to one of the small monitors in the room, the one they often checked their communications and emails and other messages on, "She sent a message."

"You told her too?!" she nearly huffed, that was the LAST thing she wanted.

"Because I knew YOU wouldn't," he told her calmly, "WERE you planning to?" she couldn't answer that, just cross her arms, "She's very proud of you too Tor," he added, "Have a look at her message…"

"No," she shook her head, moving over to the computer and opening their message system, deleting the only one she saw from her mother, "If she was really that proud of me, she'd be here WITH me to tell it to my face," she turned to her father, "She'd still be here if we mattered at all to her."

Her father sighed, he'd been hoping to avoid this hostility when he and his wife had separated. He knew it was hard for Victoria to deal with, she'd idolized her mother as a child, had aspired to be like her, follower her footsteps into engineering. And while she was still headed in that direction, it was more for her own talents than because of her mother. He'd tried to keep things civil and friendly with his ex-wife, to keep his negative feelings for the woman away from Victoria and not influence her…and he hadn't. He was constantly trying to get her to speak to his ex, to spend time with her, visit her, even just contact her, but Victoria had already formed her opinion of her mother as much as he tried to keep his wife in a good light in her eyes.

Unfortunately, Victoria had been incredibly hurt when her mother had decided to leave them. To her it was a rejection of HER, that her mother didn't love her enough to stay for her. The fact that her mother hadn't even tried to make things work with her father had made her believe she just…didn't care for the family she'd formed. She'd been…quite passionate in speaking to her mother about how she wanted to stay with HIM and asking the woman to just…stay out of her life. She'd been 15 years old, nearly 16, and he could understand her rampant emotions at that point in her life, that she was more making all sorts of rash decisions and reacting to things instead of thinking of the consequences. He'd tried to respect her feelings, hoped that, after a year or so, when she'd had time to calm down, that she'd try to patch things up with her mother.

It hadn't happened.

"Well," he took a breath, "I'M very proud of you Tor," he laughed, waving the letter in his hand, "Welcome to the family business."

She smiled at that, watching as he turned to head out of the room, setting the letter down to go and get ready for the day, they'd have to go get some items she'd need to start her Fleet training, the recruiting sessions for the new Cadets would be starting in a few days. She waited till he was out of sight before her smile fell slightly, moving over to the counter where the letter was sitting. She reached out and picked it up, just…looking at it.

There was still time, as much as she hated to admit it, as much as she knew that it would kill her father for her to say she didn't want to be in Starfleet…there was still time for her to refuse their offer for placement in their program. She glanced in the direction her father had gone and back down at the letter, tracing a finger along the line of her acceptance and shifting back and forth in indecision.

She let out a breath, she supposed…she could go to one of the recruiting sessions and see if something changed her mind. She was hoping it would though, that it would make her more sure that this was something she wanted to do even if she wasn't quite certain of it herself…

She just…she didn't want to let her father down.

A/N: This is the shortest chapter of this story :) I try to get most up to at least 5,000 words but as this was more an introduction chapter, it's just a little shorter :) The next chapter will continue to follow the movie in terms of the OC meeting Kirk, acting as the first 'flashback' chapter of three and one where we'll really start to see Victoria's personality :)

I hope you enjoyed :)


	2. Challenge Accepted

Challenge Accepted

"He's looking at you again."

Victoria glanced over at her friend, Nyota Uhura, as the woman leaned in to whisper that to her. She rolled her eyes, looking over to see a young local sitting at a table, looking over at her before he looked away. She'd noticed him glancing over at the two of them…and every other girl in the bar…all night. He was handsome, she could admit that, with his sandy blonde hair and his blue eyes, she could see his eyes even from across the dimly lit bar, even with dozens of Cadets and locals walking past him and crowding around them all, she could see it. He seemed…kind, not kind in a doormat way though but more of the sort where he was genuinely good at heart. Like he was a decent man, something hard to come by these days, and that he had a strong will. He seemed the sort who, even when in the worst situation, was unable to genuinely hate or insult someone else. Despite what she assumed was his 'tough guy/rebel' countenance, she could tell he was probably a big softy when you got to know him.

"James Kirk has been looking at _everyone_," she rolled her eyes, turning back to the chips and dip sitting in the middle of their small 2-person table.

Uhura shook her head, "How do you manage to know who everyone is?" she gave her a suspicious look, "Have you been hacking again?"

She scoffed, "No, I learned my lesson," she held up a hand, recalling her most recent brush with the authority system that had nearly kept her from being accepted into the Fleet's program.

She'd just wanted to see who her competition was! That was all, she'd wanted to know who the other Cadets were, what she'd have to deal with if she did accept the Fleet's offer for a Cadet position. She'd…honestly been tempted not to accept, not to join the Fleet. It had been something she'd wanted to do ever since she was a child, since her father would tell her about all his own adventures with her mother in the Fleet. She'd wanted to go out there and see the stars and have adventures too…

But then she grew up.

She saw the strain it put on her parents. They had both started off on the same foot, both eager to join the Fleet, to see everything it had to offer, and both had loved it. But…her mother had claimed to love HER more. Her mother had wanted to leave the Fleet once she'd been born, a starship being no place to raise a child, but her father had just been made the Commander of a ship and he couldn't leave, he couldn't give up that opportunity. It had been the beginning of the end for her parents, the odd part was that...they didn't fight, not openly at least. Her mother just...progressively got more bitter in her remarks to her father, more accusing, more haughty. Almost all her remarks were centered around the Fleet and her father's dedication to it. She understood he loved it, he ought to, his entire family for generations all had ties to the Fleet, whether as crew members or captains or engineers or even as teachers at the Fleet's Academy…every single member of his family had dedicated their life to the Fleet, and he was no exception.

Neither was she it seemed.

Her mother had had enough only a few years ago, had sworn she'd leave and had really done it. She could still remember that day, when her mother had come into her room to see her preparing for one of the entrance exams for the Fleet, even though she wouldn't be eligible to join for a year or two more, and had sat with her. She could remember her mother's offer to leave with her, to escape the Fleet when she had the chance.

She'd said no.

And she honestly wasn't sure if her father appreciated her decision to stay with him or not.

Her own relationship with her mother had changed after that as well. Her mother hardly ever spoke to her save once or twice a year to wish her a happy birthday or a fond holiday, and her father…he'd thrown himself into the Fleet with a passion. And THAT was the reason she'd said no to her mother. She knew what her father was like, he had a one-track mind most of the time, and it had been divided in three before, between her, her mother, and the Fleet. When her mother had left it was just divided in two. She knew that when her mother left her father would focus more on the Fleet and she knew if SHE left as well...there would be nothing stopping him from fully committing in every way he could.

She knew that would get him killed one day and that would break her heart because she loved her father very much.

He wouldn't have cared for his own life if he thought his wife and daughter had abandoned him, so she'd stayed, she'd acted as an anchor, reminding him he_ had_ something to fight for, to be cautious in his endeavors for. She'd stayed because…it was the only way she could keep an eye on him as well, take care of him and make sure he'd be alright. Her own dynamic with her father had changed despite her efforts, becoming more like a commanding officer addressing one of his privates than anything. But she knew he loved her, it was his only way of coping with what her mother had done.

To him…the Fleet meant family.

If she could get into the Cadet program then they'd always be together, he could ensure she served on his ship and they'd be able to spend more time together in the Fleet. So she'd tried her best to live up to his expectations, to ace the entrance exams and pass the physical tests, to do _everything_ she could to ensure she'd actually be able to join the Fleet when the time came…but it got a bit much at times. She 'acted out' as he liked to call it, really though she was just trying to learn more about the Fleet that her father loved so much. She hacked into programs to prove to the Fleet that it was easy to hack so they'd tighten up the holes in it…her father never seemed to see it that way. She would wander through the engineering departments of the ships he served on and fiddle with some components…none of the engineers seemed particularly thrilled when she did that. They liked the ships to run just as they always had even when she'd just wanted to see if she could improve them.

Her mother had been an Engineer on the starships, she'd grown up around her telling her how to fix them. Her mother had been quite exasperated when her daughter's idea of a favored bedtime story was how to fix a warp drive alignment or some other odd question. But she DID love the Fleet, as much as her father did, it was the past of her family, their legacy, and it was her future. And that was why it had been so hard for her to realize, as she held her acceptance note for the program, that…she was actually considering rejecting it.

It had become less about something she loved to do and wanted to be a part of, something she'd seen giving her parents so much happiness, to something that she'd ended up working towards to make someone else happy, something that just kept putting more and more pressure on her to succeed in, something that…was become more like a chore to do than a passion. Even when she'd jokingly (seriously) question her father what he'd do if she wanted to pursue history or botony or something...he made it about the Fleet, how she could be a tutor on the ships or work in the gardens that provided fresh fruit and vegetables to the crew for meals. She'd accepted, in the end, in a combination of not wanting to disappoint her father and a hope that she'd enter the program and, in getting away from him a little, be able to forge her own path, make her own friends, and find her passion once more.

She'd met Uhura and seeing the woman's own drive for Xenolinguistics was refreshing, the girl was interesting and fun to be around, even if she'd only met her a short while ago, during the first gathering of the recruited Cadets. She'd have liked to have Uhura as a roommate when they entered the program, but unfortunately those arrangements had already been made. Uhura's roommate was an Orion named Gaila, they hadn't met yet, but she'd gotten the information for her when she'd hacked into the system earlier to see who the new Cadets were in her class. She'd nearly been caught, Uhura with her, but the guards who showed up to the shuttle that they'd hidden in had taken one look at them, rolled their eyes, and told them to get out. Uhura hadn't any idea it was that common of an occurrence, Cadets sneaking into the shuttles to access the Fleet connected computers to try and hack in. She'd just laughed at that before telling Uhura who her roommate was. Her own roommate was a Karemma though she hadn't managed to get to the name before the guards appeared.

And there they were, with the rest of the Cadets for their last recruitment session before being taken to the Academy. It was an unsanctioned event, them being in the bar, but they'd wanted to all get together and, as the men had called it, have one last hurrah before they shipped off.

Little had they known that the local bar was the hang out for one James Tiberius Kirk.

"He's practically famous in the Fleet," Victoria continued, "Or at least an unofficial member of it, everyone whose ever heard of the Kelvin knows who he is through his father and he's not even _in_ the Fleet yet."

"Yet?" Uhura frowned, she knew about the Kelvin, nearly every person who wanted to be a Cadet had heard about it, especially the ones recruited by Captain Pike. She knew who Kirk was now but she'd just wanted to make sure Victoria hadn't tried to hack in again somehow. As far as she knew, Kirk wasn't a member of the Fleet at all, not even in the program.

"Why do you think we're here?" she shook her head, "We could have had our last session anywhere on earth and they picked_ Iowa_? They picked THIS town? His home town? That's too much of a coincidence, no," she looked across the bar, catching Kirk's eye as he glanced over at her once more, "We're here for HIM."

Uhura turned in her seat, seeing Kirk starting to smile at Victoria, before he gave her a nod and took a sip from what had to be his third beer at least. She rolled her eyes, already seeing a cocky nature in the man, and turned back to Victoria, "You want something to drink?"

"Cardassian sunrise," she nodded, "Two please."

"Two?" Uhura glanced at her, a little unsure of that, "Really?"

"I can hold my liquor just fine," she rolled her eyes, "This isn't exactly the first time I've 'snuck out' to a bar Ny."

Uhura held up her hands and turned to go to the bar, "Hey Uhura!" one of the other Cadets called as she passed their table, "Can you get a Klavnian fire tea, three Buds, and a shot of Jack too?"

She sighed but nodded, they would be on her way back so it wouldn't be hard to drop off the drinks too. The Cadets had all agreed to pool their money on the tab for the drinks they'd be consuming that night, it wasn't like she was paying for it right now. She made her way to the bar, smiling at the tender, "Hi. I'd like a Klavnian fire tea. Uh, three Budweiser classics, two Cardassian sunrises, and a…" she squinted at the drinks listed, trying to find at least one for herself before she finished up.

"Try the Slusho," the bartender recommended, "It's good."

She smiled, "The Slusho mix, thank you."

"That's a lot of drinks for one woman," a voice said beside her.

She glanced over to see Kirk had come to lounge against the bar next to her, given his tone she could tell he was, at the very least, buzzed, and shook her head at that. His eyes were still fixed on Victoria as she sat at the table though, speaking to someone on her communicator at her ear, "And a shot of Jack straight up," she added to the bartender, ignoring Kirk.

She'd had this happen to her before, numerous times, some skeeze in a bar came onto her to try and get in the pants of her friends. Not gonna happen, not this time. Not just because she hadn't known Victoria long and they were just on the way to being friends, but because the man was clearly trouble and…well, Victoria seemed to have a penchant for getting into enough of it on her own without someone like Kirk enabling her.

"Make that two, shots on me," Kirk turned his head to look at her, finally tearing his gaze away from Victoria.

"Her shot's on _her_," she countered to the bartender as the man held up his hands in surrender, before she turned to Kirk again, "Thanks but no thanks."

Kirk rolled his eyes, "Do you at least want to know my name before you completely reject me?"

"I'm fine without it," she shot back. She already knew who he was, yes, but _he_ didn't need to know it.

"You _are_ fine without it," he looked her up and down, before his head rolled to nod at Victoria, "And she's…more than fine," he grinned and let his head fall onto his shoulder, turning it to look up at her, "It's Jim, Jim Kirk. If you don't tell me your name, I'm gonna have to make one up."

"What, not going to make one up for her to?" Uhura quipped.

"Don't need to," he shrugged, "Already got one in mind."

She shook her head, NOT wanting to know, "SHE'S…"

"Victoria," Kirk cut in.

Uhura frowned, "How did you…"

"Her bag," he nodded towards the girl, to the bag resting on her feet, with 'Victoria' embroidered along the side of it, it was an old bag, too personal for it to have been generic, probably a gift from a relative that she kept with her. The faded pink color, which really _didn't_ suit the girl at all given how she was wearing a black, long-sleeved version of a Cadet's uniform, a dress that went to her mid-thighs, and black flats…she wasn't the girly sort of girl that would own a bag like that if not for sentimental reasons.

"But you never said YOUR name," Kirk grinned at her smugly.

"It's Uhura," she turned back to the bar.

"Uhura, no way. That's the name I was gonna make up for ya," he chuckled, "Uhura what?"

"Just Uhura," she replied shortly, hoping her tone would be enough to make it through his drunken state and alert him to the fact she wanted _nothing_ to do with him.

"They don't have last names on your world?"

"Uhura _is_ my last name."

"Well then, they don't have first names on your world?" he slid closer to her, leaning in, "So, you're a Cadet, you're studying...what's your focus?"

"Xenolinguistics," she snapped, shying away from his closeness, "You have no idea what that means."

Kirk looked at her a long while before stating, "The study of alien languages, morphology, phonology, syntax," he smirked when she looked at him sharply…and _had_ to add, "It means you've got a talented tongue."

"I'm impressed," she muttered, "For a moment there, I thought you were just a dumb hick who only has sex with farm animals."

"Well, not _only_," he quipped, "Your friend…" he looked at Victoria again, "She's quite the…chick," he tried to joke.

"And if you so much as go near her, she'll probably engineer a tiny bomb to strap to your…"

"So she's in engineering then?" Kirk grinned, cutting into Uhura's threat and getting more out of her about Victoria than the woman probably meant to reveal.

"This townie isn't bothering you, right?" both Kirk and Uhura looked to the side where a rather large, almost burly, Cadet stepped up to them, cutting into the conversation.

"Oh, beyond belief," Uhura remarked, "But it's nothing I can't handle."

"You _could_ handle me, if that's an invitation," Kirk winked at her.

"Hey!" the man shoved him back, "You better mind your manners."

"Oh, relax cupcake," Kirk laughed, patting him on the arm as he tried to pass him, "It was a joke."

"Hey, farmboy," 'Cupcake' turned to him as he stepped by, "Maybe you can't count, but there are four of us," he gestured behind him as three other male Cadets joined him, "And one of you."

Victoria shook her head from where she was slowly getting up from her table, backing up to the side, just knowing where this was going to go, but taking a handful of chips with her to munch on as she enjoyed the inevitable showdown.

"Well, find some more guys and then it'll be an even fight," Kirk taunted…only for Cupcake to send a firm right hook at him.

And that was just the beginning as a massive fight broke out between Kirk and the four Cadets. Some others joined in, trying to stop it, trying to pull the men off each other, but Kirk took a brutal beating in the meanwhile. Uhura even got involved, trying to break them all up, shouting at them to stop, especially when Kirk hit the ground, his nose bloodied, his lip split, clearly in pain.

A group of Cadets surged forward, managing to pull three of the others off of Kirk…but Cupcake wouldn't be held back as he attacked the man, pulling him off the ground and readying another punch…

When he suddenly let go of him as a shattering noise reached them.

Kirk, stumbled back into a table to see Victoria standing behind Cupcake a broken bottle in hand, having smashed it on Cupcake's head to get him to stop. Cupcake whirled around, seeming ready to attack whoever it was that had done that…only for the prepared Victoria to land one _hefty_ blow across the man's face, sending him to the ground. She panted a moment from the effort of that punch before she winced and shook out her hand, cursing under her breath, 100 percent certain that she'd just broken her hand in doing that.

Men, they got so into fighting that they sometimes failed to realize that it didn't taken numerous blows to fell an opponent, no, sometimes it just took one well-timed, wel-placed, well-thought blow. She'd seen her father knock out an unruly enemy with a single punch before, it had been something he'd taught her himself when she'd gotten older. Well, during her first date really, he'd wanted her to be protected, taught her the angle and power needed to knock someone out for a few minutes with a single punch. It was mostly because on one expected a woman to punch like that or attack that hard at all that most never saw it coming and didn't tense in preparation for it. It left them open to it and she _always_ used it to her advantage.

Unfortunately, just as Cupcake hit the ground, a sharp whistle was heard as none other than Captain Pike, their recruiter, stepped into the bar. He stood there, looking around at the Cadets, before shaking his head at them, "Outside. All of you. Now!"

"Yes, sir," one of the Cadets who had taken part in the beating said quickly, the other two joining him to heft the fallen Cupcake up and drag him out with the others.

Pike frowned when he saw Uhura standing before Victoria, looking at her hand as the girl grimaced in pain and walked over to them. He reached out and gently took Victoria's hand, turning it over, trying to uncurl her fingers when she winced, "Go see medical," he ordered, "You," he nodded at Uhura, "Make sure she goes."

"Yes, sir," Uhura nodded, leading Victoria out.

Victoria sighed, she hated medical, she hated doctors. She didn't know why but she got anxious whenever she had to be around one, she just…didn't like them, how they poked and prodded and examined you. Their examination tables and instruments were always so cold and unfeeling and it gave her the creeps to have to go see one. She hated medicine too, if there was something wrong with her body she wanted it to tell her not be so chock full of medications that she had no idea what was happening.

She glanced over her shoulder to see Kirk leaning heavily on the table he'd fallen against, watching her go intently, offering her a nod of thanks which she returned before she stepped out with Uhura.

"You alright, son?" Pike turned to him.

"You can whistle really loud, you know that?" Kirk glanced at him, wincing at the sudden move before he rubbed his head…

That…had not been fun.

~8~

Victoria sighed as she stepped back to the bar later that night, grimacing at her hand in its small splint. She hadn't broken it as she'd thought, but she'd bruised her knuckles soundly and sprained her wrist, so she'd be forced to wear a splint for the next few weeks.

Wonderful.

That was the_ last_ time she was ever going to punch someone for James T. Kirk.

She moved to the door and peeked in to see that Pike and Kirk were alone in the bar, Kirk looking more patched up, his face washed, but with two napkins stuck in his nose for the last of the bleeding. Pike was across from him, the two men sitting at a table. She knew it was bad, but she'd always been a terrible eavesdropper, so she'd stood by the screen door, listening.

"…couldn't believe it when the bartender told me who you are," Pike was saying, seeming to have finished what was likely a long-winded speech about responsibility and respect and blah blah blah, she'd heard it a thousand times before, everyone probably had.

"Who am I, Captain Pike?" Kirk scoffed.

"Your father's son."

Kirk just turned and held up a glass to the bartender, "Can I get another one?"

Victoria sighed, clearly it was a sore topic for Kirk and she knew what was coming. Pike was one of the best recruiters that the Fleet had, his passion, his dedication, brought in more Cadets than any other. But she could tell he didn't know when to stop, he was going to keep bring it up, digging into Kirk's past till he relented, and that was not something anyone should do, they shouldn't use your lost family member to convince you to do something. She knew that well enough from her own mother and how she was constantly used by her paternal relatives to 'set an example' for her both to live up to, in certain ways, and avoid becoming in others.

"Captain Pike," she entered the bar, "There's a transmission waiting for you in the shipyard," she told him, walking over, "Medical ordered me to give you my report," she handed him a piece of paper detailing her injury, "And one of the communications staff requested I alert you to the transmission from the Academy on my way."

Pike sighed and stood, "Thank you Victoria," he nodded, before glancing at Kirk, "Don't waste your potential kid," he nodded, before heading out, pausing only when he noticed Victoria not following, "You want to take a swing at him too?" he asked her, amused.

"No," she shook her head, "Just…_someone_ owes me a thank you and I intend to get it," she looked back at Kirk.

Pike stood there, looking between the two as they stared at each other a moment, before shaking his head and walking out.

"You're lucky," Victoria remarked as she sat down, waiting till Pike had left before she spoke, "Knowing him he was about to start on how he wrote about the Kelvin for his dissertation."

"He uh," Kirk winced, reaching up to pull the napkins out of his nose, not wanting to sit in front of a woman with them sticking out of him, "Does that a lot then?"

"His favorite story," she nodded, "From what I hear. Seems he gives it every time he's trying to recruit someone, that you could 'have the chance to be a member of a family like that, where the captain puts his crew first' and so on," she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, slouching a bit, another little habit of hers, her posture was really terrible when she wasn't in a sort of formal setting, "I tend to think that he fantasizes about your dad…"

Kirk, who had just gone to take a sip of water (the only thing the bartender was willing to give him after that brawl), spit it out and started choking, "What?!"

She shrugged, but the smile on her face let him know she was only (partially) joking about it, "He admires him," she corrected, "Doesn't believe in 'no-win' scenarios because of your dad."

"Yeah," Kirk scoffed, "And dad learned his lesson didn't he?"

"I don't think there was a lesson to learn."

"No?" he frowned at her.

"You're alive," she nodded at him, "I think that's a win for parents. Could be a win for the Fleet as well."

"How's that?" he rolled his eyes, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table as he crossed his arms.

"You're even worse than the stories say _he_ was in just rushing into things, in making it up as you go, in being creative…" she eyed him, seeing him listening to her, seeing him almost…shocked that someone would classify all the things that had gotten him in trouble for _years_ as a GOOD thing, "I could use help converting the Fleet to think like that."

"You?" he scoffed, his shock turning to amusement, "You expect me to believe you're like that too?"

"Well, I DO try to think a bit more once I've run into a situation," she smirked, "And YOU have the capacity to do it too," she leaned in, resting her own elbows on the table, a challenging look in her eyes, "I hacked into the system," she admitted, she really had, she just…hadn't wanted Uhura to know, "You're a genius, stone cold genius," he smirked at that, "But you're WAY too arrogant," his smirk fell, "You _really_ expect me to believe you stick around here because you LIKE it?" she snorted, "You stay here because then you're the smartest person around."

Kirk eyed her, she was…the first person to actually guess that.

"But staying here?" she shook her head, "How is THAT impressive to a woman?" she shrugged, getting up, "We love a man in uniform," she told him, "So enlist in Starfleet."

"Enli…" Kirk started to laugh, "You must really be desperate to fill your recruiting quota for the month."

"Oh I'm not a recruiter," she shook her head, looking down at him.

"Then what are you?" he eyed her.

"Wouldn't you like to know," she shot back, smiling secretively at him, seeing his eyes narrow in curiosity, "Pity though, you never will," she let out a mocking sigh, "If you were an officer…might take you about four years though, but then you could order me to tell you."

"In four years I'd have figured it out for myself," he defended.

"Oh I doubt it," she challenged, Kirk stiffening at it, "But if you're game…Riverside Shipyard is where the shuttle'll be taking the new Cadets tomorrow bright and early. Why don't you put your money where your mouth is and see if you can work out just what sort of girl I am."

Kirk watched her as she turned and headed for the door, his gaze never leaving her so he wasn't surprised when she paused and looked back at him, just…staring, "What?" he frowned, shifting under her gaze, something he would deny to the grave that he'd done.

"Nothing," she shrugged, "Just…another challenge, if you want it."

"I'm listening."

"Your dad was captain for 12 minutes alone…saved over 800 people, including you. I want to know if you can do him one better," she nodded, done, and turned to head out the door, "See you tomorrow!"

"Maybe," he shouted after her.

"Definitely," she called back knowingly.

Kirk frowned, staring at the door as it shut before looking down at a small salt shaker shaped like the Kelvin…and back at the door.

~8~

Pike looked over as he stood in Riverside Shipyard the next morning, preparing the final Cadets to enter the shuttle…when he heard a motorcycle approaching. He grinned, seeing Kirk get off, "Nice ride, man," one of the engineers working on a piece of the Enterprise commented.

"It's yours," Kirk tossed him the keys, already on a path towards Pike, "That girl," he told the man, "Victoria…she said it takes four years to be an officer?"

"If you're lucky," Pike nodded, starting to grin.

Kirk scoffed, "I'll do it in three," and with that, he turned and strode past the man, into the shuttle where he could see the Cadets from the bar, Uhura and Victoria included, gathered, "At ease, gentlemen," he muttered to Cupcake and his friends, before he turned to head further into the shuttle, his gaze locked on Victoria…so much so that he ended up walking right into a low metal beam.

Victoria snorted at seeing Kirk smash his forehead against it, making him roll his eyes at having been caught, before he ducked under it and made his way down to her, taking a seat to her right, Uhura on her left, with an open seat on his right as well.

"And you call ME arrogant," he commented to Victoria as he sat.

"What, you think _I_ am?" she lifted an eyebrow at that as he slipped his straps on.

"You were SO sure I'd turn up," he remarked.

"And look at that," she smirked at him, "Here you are. Not arrogance if it's true."

Kirk grumbled under his breath at that, feeling a small…he wasn't sure what it was. It wasn't discomfort or alarm but more…he wasn't quite used to that, to the thought that someone actually understood him. She'd gathered his reasons for staying in Iowa from just one meeting with him, had worked out JUST how to bait him enough to get him to get on that shuttle, and she'd KNOWN he'd go…he'd never had that happen before. Most women never knew what he was going to do short of feeling like he'd try to flirt with them. Not even his own mother had managed to work out things like that about him. There was one thing to be said…Victoria was…interesting.

"Never did get that first name," he mumbled to Uhura, if just for something to change the topic.

Before Uhura could even comment, a commotion rang out to their right, a young woman was leading a rather scruffy-looking man out of the restrooms, "You need a doctor!"

"I told you people, I don't need a doctor," the man rolled his eyes, a deep southern drawl to his words, "I_ am _a doctor."

"You need to get back to your seat."

"I had one, in the bathroom, with no windows."

"You need to get back to your seat, now!"

"I suffer from aviophobia. It means fear of _dying_ in something that flies."

"Sir, for your own safety, sit down or else I'll make you sit down."

The man glared at the woman a long while before relenting, "Fine."

"Thank you," the woman huffed, turning to walk away as the man made his way to the only open seat beside Kirk.

"This is Captain Pike," they all looked up, hearing his voice come over the speakers, "We've been cleared for takeoff."

"I may throw up on you," the man warned Kirk as he sat down and began to strap in.

"Please do," Victoria leaned forward slightly to smirk at the man, despite him having claimed himself to be a doctor…he didn't look like one at all, "It would liven up the trip to see James here dealing with vomit the entire time and forced to sit in it," ok, so she was a bit bitter about being called arrogant.

"James?" Kirk scoffed at that, "Call me Jim."

"Hmmm…" she paused as though to think, "No. That's not your name."

"Kirk then," he rolled his eyes.

"I prefer James."

"And I prefer Jim."

"Well you're not ME are you," she countered.

"Tory just call him Jim," Uhura cut in, "_You_ hate it when people call you 'Victoria' too."

"No," she glanced at the girl, "If he'd ASKED me to call him Jim, I might have, I don't like being ordered around by someone who isn't my captain," she turned to Kirk, "You don't get to control what I say and what I call you James."

"Oh is_ that_ how you want to play it 'Tory?'" he mocked, "How about I call you Victoria then."

"And how long have you two been married?" the doctor-man cut in, looking between them.

"What?" they both blinked at him.

"...you're not are you?" the man grumbled, wonderful, he knew exactly where this was all going to lead.

"No."

"Well, how long have you been friends?"

"Friends?" they glanced at each other.

The man frowned, "_Known_ each other?" he tried to think, he'd never met two people who hadn't known each other so long that they acted like that around each other.

Kirk shrugged, "9 hours?"

"9 hours and 34 minutes," Victoria corrected, making him roll his eyes as Uhura shook her head, already realizing what the man had about the two of them, she'd seen it herself in the bar when they'd glance at each other.

"Don't worry," Uhura turned to him, really wanting to get the topic of conversation _away_ from either Kirk or Victoria, "The shuttles are incredibly safe."

"Oh don't pander to me," the man rolled his eyes, "One tiny crack in the hull and our blood boils in thirteen seconds. A solar flare might pop up and cook us in our seats. And wait 'til your sitting pretty with a case of Andorian shingles. See if you're still so relaxed when your eyeballs are bleeding. Space is disease and danger after darkness and silence."

"You're quite the optimist, aren't you?" Victoria remarked dryly.

"I hate to break this to you, but Starfleet operates in space," Kirk added.

"Yeah," the man grumbled, "Well, got nowhere else to go. The ex-wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce. All I've got left is my bones."

"That sounds like divorce alright," Victoria muttered, "Destroying lives everywhere."

Kirk glanced at her a moment, hearing a bitterness in her voice, before he shook his head, it wasn't any of his business what that cocky girl was talking about. So, instead, he smirked at the man, liking his cynicism, it was refreshing, "These are Uhura and Victoria, and I'm Jim Kirk."

"McCoy," the man reached out to shake his hand, "Leonard McCoy…" he winced as the shuttle started to shake, takeing off.

"Any time you want to vomit on James," Victoria called over the rumbling, "Feel free, PLEASE feel free."

Kirk just rolled his eyes, he'd let the girl rope him into joining Starfleet, but luckily he'd never have to encounter her again after this...that way she'd never be able to tell a soul that he'd grabbed her hand just moments before the shuttle actually took off.

But in his defense...she squeezed his hand back.

A/N: Lol, oh Bones, I think, really has their unique relationship pegged ;) But we'll see more hints of it tomorrow too ^-^

Some notes on reviews...

I'll be posting another story for the Archives when the 3rd movie comes out :) I have an original story planned as the final one in the series for when they officially announce no more movies with that cast too ;)

Oh she and Bones will get on very well :) Scotty will definitely bring out a testy side to Kirk as they'll both be engineering people and want to chat about it quite a bit ;) She just might do something when Kirk gets kicked off, but I won't say what :)

I can't say who her father is ;) It'll be a sort of running joke that Kirk is so focused on Uhura's first name he doesn't realize he doesn't know Victoria's last ;) But we'll find out what that is when he does :)

It's sort of a combination of things making her hesitant to join the Fleet. I think it comes down to pressure mostly, like it's just expected of her and she never really got a choice in it :)

Lol, that's awesome :) Victoria is in my top 10 favorite names :)


	3. The Kobayashi Maru

The Kobayashi Maru

_Three Years Later…_

As luck would have it, it was NOT the last time one James T. Kirk encountered Victoria or vice versa, as it turned out, both had nearly every class together, a fact which both amused and irritated Uhura and Bones through the course of their three years in the Academy. The two had an…odd relationship, an even odder friendship that had grown in those years together. Bones was still convinced that they HAD to be married secretly and were just denying it out loud for the sake of covering themselves, perhaps disapproving parents or some other such thing. Everyone who encountered them tended to think the same.

The two bickered worse than an old married couple, so much so that it was almost a sport to watch them go at each other at times. And it was the weirdest thing as well as, half the time, they'd end up screaming at each other one second and the next their argument would turn into a rather loud discussion of something different, like what they should eat when they arrived in the cafeterias or who should take what part of an assignment. It was ridiculous to see them go through the process of fighting and have it end up with neither of them actually fighting about anything anymore.

But whatever way they resolved their issues and kept from murdering each other was good in the books of most Cadets.

They didn't actually argue in a full on row all that much, not for about two years now, but more…bickered and shot things back at each other. But there always seemed to be some sort of…affection, if that were the right word, behind their tones and digs. There was a respect that had grown between them and the friendship that had been forged was truly something remarkable for Bones and Uhura to witness.

It really did confuse quite a few Cadets how Victoria and Kirk could get into a tiff about how she was acting like a 'sourpuss' as Kirk would call her and they'd shout at each other, till it was revealed that some boy had insulted her in a way where she was genuinely hurt by the comment…and then the next thing they'd hear about, Kirk was facing suspension for punching another Cadet. Or the times where Kirk would be 'gloomy,' a term that Victoria would insist was not right for him, and they'd bicker and 'sass' each other till Kirk admitted that it was his mother's birthday or some other major event and he wasn't there to celebrate it with her or eat some of her famous pie that she made on special occasions…and then hours later a pie would be sitting outside of Kirk's dorm room.

Their friendship made no sense to anyone, they fought like cats and dogs…but then went out of their way to protect and cheer the other up. And it didn't help that the 'behind the scenes' moments were done with the effort of not revealing who had done it or why. Kirk would proclaim he'd punched a Cadet because the boy attacked him first (not adding on that he'd egged the person into 'attacking' him first) and NOT because said Cadet had been a jerk to Victoria, much like Victoria would deny having any sort of pie-making knowledge, swearing that she could burn water if left in a kitchen by herself.

Bones and Uhura especially had given up long ago trying to define exactly what Kirk and Victoria were to each other. Important, they knew that much, but exactly how they felt…well they could guess. There were little things that the two did, when they thought the other or other people weren't looking, that gave them away. Kirk would look at her when she studied, when she sat there with a book before her, a pencil across her mouth, chewing on it as was her bad habit. He'd watch her at times when she was focused or concentrating on something, and there would be the smallest of smiles on his face, the softest of looks in his eyes. He'd stutter and stumble over his words when he was caught looking, sometimes even when Victoria and he spent time together outside of classes or the Academy, when they were allowed to wear their civilian clothes instead of their uniforms. Outside the Academy, the two seemed to gravitate towards each other, sticking close when they were in large crowds, keeping near each other when they entered bars or one or two clubs that the other Cadets frequented.

There had been one time that had nearly given Bones a heart attack, a time that Uhura STILL teased Victoria about. They'd been in a club only a year ago, where a man had been shamelessly trying to get Victoria's attention, only to have her reject him time after time, and the man STILL kept trying. Kirk had stepped up, the two of them forced to resort to the old 'this is my boyfriend' ploy to keep the man back. It had been…amusing to see it happen as HE'D been standing right next to the woman when it went down as well and she'd essentially not even given a thought to HIM as her boyfriend before pointing across the scene to Kirk as he brought them drinks back on his round, claiming Kirk was her boyfriend. To be honest, Bones was quite glad that she hadn't selected him as her beau given what happened later when Vicky, as he took to calling her, knowing it irritated her almost as much as Kirk calling her by her full name (apparently she'd gotten her fill of 'icky Vicky' when she'd been growing up), had nearly reached her wit's end with the man. He'd still not gotten the hint that Victoria was apparently taken and…she'd been forced to take desperate measures to convince him of that.

She'd turned when the man had proclaimed she was just lying to try and play hard to get…and grabbed Kirk, kissing him full on the lips for quite a long time…really just until the man had walked off, but he knew that her claim of it lingering on a few moments after the man disappeared as being 'to make sure he was gone' was a load of bull. He'd honestly never seen Kirk as flustered or shocked over a kiss (and he'd seen Kirk go after plenty of women) as when Victoria had pulled away, acted as though it hadn't happened, stood up and offered to buy the next round to celebrate the man's departure before walking off.

He had truly thought that she'd broken Kirk that night, he'd just been…off…the rest of the night.

He and Uhura had expected awkwardness galore the next day, but it hadn't come. It seemed like both Victoria and Kirk were just…acting their normal selves. To that day they both had NO idea what might have happened or gone through the minds of their friends that the kiss was all but forgotten and they'd gotten on with their lives. But…that was the start of the affection.

At first, Kirk and Victoria couldn't seem to stand each other after their start at the Academy, but slowly they had seemed to develop a respect for each other, and then a friendship, and after that kiss…an affection for the other. Oh they still bickered, but they didn't quite scream-argue as much as they had before.

And speaking of bickering, Bones rolled his eyes as he walked on Kirk's right, Victoria on his left, down the stairs of the Academy and outside, the two going back and forth about something that was clearly making Kirk very happy. Oh he knew the man was happy not just in his grin but in how he wasn't actually bickering with Victoria but more exchanging witty retorts instead.

And when Kirk was grinning…it was_ never_ a good thing.

"Why are you so happy?" Bones glanced at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kirk just kept smiling.

"No, I don't suppose you do," he rolled his eyes.

Victoria scoffed, "You should have remembered who you were talking to Bones," she quipped, "James hardly knows anything."

"Hey!" Kirk mock-pouted at her, "I'll have you know I know loads of things."

"Oh yeah?" she gave him an amused smile, crossing her arms, "Give me the proper name of _one_ of the emergency failsafes that can be found in the programming of a warp drive?"

Kirk blinked, "I know IMPORTANT things."

"And YOU want to be a captain?" she rolled her eyes, that would probably be one of the most important things to know about, "Then tell me, oh Captain my captain, what are these oh-so important things that you DO know?"

"I know you can only chew pencils when you're focusing," he shot back, "Ever since that pen exploded in your mouth at least," he laughed as she rolled her eyes, "I know you hate red candies because they make people's mouths too red like they've been sucking blood or something. I know your ankle cracks when it's about to rain because of a injury during a self-defense class. I know…"

"I said tell me IMPORTANT things James."

"I just DID, Victoria," he mimicked the dragging out of her name like she'd dragged out his.

Victoria blinked at that, realizing…he had been blurting out facts about HER when she'd demanded that of him. She nearly smiled, almost touched by the fact that THAT was where his mind had gone when talking of importance…had two women in Cadet uniforms not walked by for Kirk to shoot a grin and a 'Hello, ladies,' at. So she settled for rolling her eyes at him instead.

"He's all excited because he's taking that stupid test again," Victoria told Bones.

"You got to be kidding me," Bones looked at Kirk, incredulous.

"Yeah," Kirk just grinned, "Tomorrow morning and I want you there. The both of you," he pointed at him and Victoria, "Which means no sleeping till noon Victoria."

She rolled her eye at him again, "Like you can talk James. I had to throw water at you to get you out of bed during the last fire drill."

Bones snorted at that, that had been…quite an experience too. He'd noticed that, in the middle of the night, when the drills went off, when Kirk or Victoria were dead asleep and woke to the jarring noise of the alarm…they were disoriented, yes, but more so…they didn't run for the exits like the other Cadets. Instead they pushed their way through the crowds towards the other's room, almost like they were trying to check that the other got out safely. The last time Kirk had only just fallen asleep an hour before the alarm went off and was dead to the world. Victoria had run in on him trying to wake the sleeping Kirk…and run to the bathroom to throw water on him to wake him. It had been one of the chillier nights so the water soaking his hair and skin hadn't helped. It hadn't helped even more when he'd given his jacket that he'd grabbed to Victoria, the girl standing there in rather short pajama bottoms and a tank top with socks on. Kirk had gotten a cold from that, and the next morning a small thermos of homemade soup was sitting outside the door to the room…with his jacket folded up under it.

But it hadn't been Victoria at all, she swore it, not her, no.

"You know, I've got better things to do than to watch you embarrass yourself for a third time," Bones remarked, "I'm a doctor, Jim, I'm _busy_."

"Bones, it doesn't bother you that no one's ever passed the test?" Kirk had to ask.

"Jim, it's the Kobayashi Maru," Bones deadpanned, "_No one _passes the test, and no one goes back for seconds, let alone thirds."

Kirk shook his head, smirking, "I got to study."

Victoria scoffed, "Study my ass," she muttered, only for Kirk to spin around and grab her hand, whirling her around so she was facing away from him, "Care to explain James?" she sighed, unamused.

Kirk just smirked, stepping closer to her so his back was pressed against her, still holding the hand he'd grabbed, turning his head to speak quietly in her ear, loving how he could feel her tensing against him at his proximity, "You DID tell me to study your ass," he joked, stepping back to look down at a lower part of her anatomy, "Best study session ever."

Victoria rolled her eyes, already used to comments like that from him, before she turned, using the hand he was still holding to pull him closer, stepping to the side and wedging his arm up his back, making him wince and let out a hiss of pain, though they both knew she wasn't actually holding him firmly enough to harm him, "You're studying the clothing OVER my ass," she whispered in his own ear, "That's not studying, that's cheating," and with that she let go of his arm and stepped past him, walking off.

"And when can the REAL study session begin then," he called after her, absently rubbing his arm.

She turned, walking backwards, "After you buy me a drink," she joked back, turning to continue on.

Kirk smirked and shook his head, watching her go and LOVING it, Bones rolling his eyes as he saw his friend's gaze drifting a little lower than was proper…and smacked him in the back of the head for it, "Keep looking at her ass Jim, and you'll be studying my fist."

Kirk rolled his eyes at that, he knew that Bones was protective of Victoria, though it was just a little weird because he was mostly that way when HE had something to do with the girl instead of every other boy in the Academy.

"Well then, my books await," he grinned, turning to head off as Bones sighed and rubbed his head.

Those two, if they didn't admit they were crazy about each other soon…were going to drive him insane.

~8~

"Did you get it?" Victoria asked as she stood outside the door to the Kobayashi Maru simulation control room.

Kirk grinned as he held up the card he'd swiped from Uhura's roommate Gaila, "Did you doubt me?"

"Knowing you?" she raised an eyebrow, "Yes."

"Must you hurt me Victoria?"

"Must you have a boy-brain, James?"

"How do I have a boy-brain aside from being a boy?"

"You thought the best way to swipe if off Gaila was through, what, making out with her on her bed?"

Kirk was silent, "And what would a girl-brain do?"

"Spill a drink on her and then, while she's distracted trying to clean herself off and you're scrambling t help, slip it out of her pocket."

Kirk blinked, "…would she be taking her shirt off to clean herself up?"

"No."

He shrugged, "I like the boy-brain plan."

"Of course you would," she sighed, "Just open the door, we don't have a lot of time, the guards check the halls every ten minutes and you're already 3 minutes late."

He rolled his eyes at her, her pet peeve about specific timing was _really_ annoying, and swiped Gaila's key into the door lock, letting them in, they had quite a lot to get done and only minutes to do it in, "Right, what do I do?"

"Just stand there and don't touch anything," she called, moving to the command controls and turning the monitor on, the only light in the room being from it.

"I DO have a genius level intellect," he defended, "I _can_ help."

"You also have a boy-brain," she countered, "And being a boy, in a dark, small room with a girl…you'll end up screwing it up."

"I take offense to that," he stated dryly, "It's like you think I have no self-control at all."

"You don't."

"Do."

"Don't."

"I control myself around you all the time," he grumbled, before stiffening, realizing what he'd said.

"Because if you so much as _tried_ any of your tricks with me I'd have kicked you into submission," she shot back, too focused on putting the hack she'd worked on with him into the system.

Kirk cleared his throat, "Is there ANYTHING I can do?" he asked.

She sighed, "Just…take out the security feeds, erase the last few minutes so they won't know we're here. The hack shouldn't be trackable, but if that won't mean anything if they've got us on security footage."

He nodded, moving to another terminal and turning the monitor on to do just that.

"I don't even know why you're so obsessed with this test," she remarked, typing away, "It's not meant to be beatable."

"How do you figure?" he wondered, absently searching the security feeds for the room, ever since he'd joined the Cadet program he'd just…felt like he had to prove himself to everyone. Well, everyone except Bones, Uhura, and Victoria, but still…if he could beat the unbeatable test, it would mean he was meant to be there and others would see that too.

"The test puts you in the worst position imaginable, you and your crew, in a hostile situation, about to be destroyed. It's just meant to make sure that you, as a captain, can focus enough on seeing your crew safe, despite being scared out of your mind, to do something to save them. It's supposed to make you realize that you have to push past being scared and think things through. That's all."

"And where'd you get that from?" he glanced at her.

She shrugged, "Obvious isn't it?" she muttered.

He watched her a moment longer before he shook his head, that was just a Victoria thing to say. She could bicker and bicker and tease you and tease you till the cows came home, but every once in a while, when it was just them, and there was something important to one of them…she'd get all wise-woman on him.

"You done?" she glanced back at him, seeing him nod before looking at her watch, "Good, we've got barely a minute to get to the end of the hall ahead of the guards.

He headed for the door, both of them turning off their monitors, and cracked it open, looking up and down the hall to make sure the guard wasn't there yet, before reaching back instinctively to take her hand and pull her out of the room. They closed the door and rushed down the hall…JUST reaching the corner and turning down it as a guard stepped into the hallway, missing the man's sight by mere seconds.

~8~

Kirk could barely keep the smirk off his face as he sat in the captain's chair of the Kobayashi Maru simulation, looking around at the crew that he'd selected, Uhura, Bones, and Victoria among them.

"We're receiving a distress signal from the USS Kobayashi Maru," Uhura began the simulation, seeming as exasperated as Bones did to be there yet again, "The ship has lost power and is stranded. Starfleet Command has ordered us to rescue them."

"Starfleet Command has ordered us to rescue them, _Captain_," he corrected, sending Uhura a smirk.

"Two Klingon vessels are entering the neutral zone," Victoria warned, "They appear to be locking weapons on us."

"That's ok," Kirk nodded.

Bones blinked and turned in his own chair beside Victoria's to stare at him, "That's ok?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it."

"Three more Klingon warbirds decloaking and targeting our ship, Captain," Victoria called, making Kirk smirk, her being the first to remember to call him 'captain' for this test.

"I don't suppose this is a problem either?" Bones asked dryly.

"And now they're firing," Victoria sighed.

"Alert medical bay to prepare to receive all crew members from the damaged ship," Kirk turned to Uhura.

"And how do you expect us to rescue them when we're surrounded by Klingons?" Uhura gave him a narrow-eyed look, rolling her eyes when he shot her a pointed look, "_Captain_."

"Alert medical," he repeated.

"Our ship is being hit!" Bones shouted as the simulated room shook, sparks going off, "Shields at sixty percent."

"I understand," Kirk nodded, FAR too calm for this to be normal.

"Well should we, I don't know, fire back?"

"Hmm…" he hummed, pulling an apple from his pocket and taking a bite out of it, "No."

"Of course not," Bones grumbled…

All of them froze, looking up as the lights flickered above them, the power seeming to go off for a short moment before coming back on. Kirk glanced at Victoria as she looked over her shoulder at him, giving him a brief nod that had him smirking, "Hmm...arm photons, prepare to fire on the Klingon warbirds," he ordered.

"Yes, Captain," Victoria smirked, turning around to do just that.

"Jim, their shields are still up," Bones reminded him.

Kirk's own smirk just widened, "Are they?"

Bones frowned at the look and turned back to his monitor, blinking at the new readings now staring up at him, "No. They're not."

"Fire on all enemy ships," Kick stood, "One photon each should do it, so don't waste ammunition."

"Aye Captain," Victoria nodded, leaning in to tap the commands in, even though she was an engineering Cadet first and foremost, all crew members were trained in how to at least put in basic commands in the Bridge, in the event of an emergency, "Target locked and acquired on all warbirds. Firing."

Uhura blinked, watching as the simulation on the monitor before them all, where the windows would have been if they'd really been in space, were showing the warbirds blasted to pieces, "All ships destroyed, Captain."

Kirk nodded, pleased, "Begin rescue of the stranded crew," he looked around, "So, we've managed to eliminate all enemy ships, no one onboard was injured, and the successful rescue of the Kobayashi Maru crew is underway," he turned to a small window through which he could see the programmers of the simulation gaping at him and winked.

~8~

Kirk sighed as he made his way into one of the lecture halls of the Academy where some sort of hearing was about to take place. Some poor soul had to have REALLY messed up for an academic hearing to be called. He'd just reached his seat, hadn't even sat down...when a voice rang out.

"This session has been called to resolve a troubling matter concerning two Cadets," Council Member Barnett stated to the group of Cadets gathered, "James T. Kirk, if you would join your peer."

Kirk frowned, looking at the 'defendant's' podium where a familiar ash-blonde girl was standing, and made his way down to her, "Any idea what this is about?" he whispered to her.

She rolled her eyes, "The hack on the Kobayashi Maru."

"You said they wouldn't be able to track your access, Victoria," he accused.

"And YOU said you'd taken out the security feeds, James," she hissed right back, knowing they'd be lucky if they didn't get expelled for this, "This is all your fault," she huffed, though not entirely serious, she knew she'd had an equal part in it, but...she was always rather bad at accepting her own blame in things. And now she might be expelled for all of this. Of everything she and Kirk had done in the last three years, THIS was what might do them in.

Oh that would be just wonderful, truly fantastic for her to get expelled. Her father would never be more proud of her for accomplishing that. It would be the greatest honor to befall her family if she were the first in generations to actually be kicked OUT of the Fleet. Just…fantastic. Though, if she was kicked out, she would be free to murder Kirk and make it look like an accident then without facing the added punishments dealt by the Fleet for it.

"Cadets," Barnett continued as Kirk and Victoria looked at the man, "Evidence has been submitted to this council, suggesting that you violated the ethical code of conduct pursuant to Regulation 17.3 of the Starfleet Code. Is there anything you care to say before we begin?"

"Don't you da…" Victoria began to Kirk, but he'd already opened his mouth.

"Yes, I believe we have the right to face our accuser directly."

They heard a small shuffling behind them and looked back to see a pale man with dark hair, wearing black, with pointed ears and eyebrows stand up. Victoria nearly groaned and face-palmed as she saw who exactly it was. As far as she knew there was only one Vulcan in the Academy, a Commander Spock. He was a very respected graduate of the Academy himself and often taught courses there. Uhura raved about the man whenever they got together with their roommates to eat. She was half-sure there was more going on between Uhura and her former professor, but that wasn't any of her business.

Ok, so she'd _begged_ for the details and Uhura had been quite forthcoming with them.

But that was NOT something she would ever bring up in a situation like this just to discredit Spock. That would only end up hurting Uhura in the long run and she didn't want to do that to her friend. If worse came to worse though, she was more than prepared to allude to what she knew if it would throw Spock off.

"Step forward, please," Barnett gestured Spock down to take the other podium as he introduced the man to others who were unaware who he was, "This is Commander Spock. He's one of our most distinguished graduates. He's programmed the Kobayashi Maru exam for the last four years. Commander?"

"Cadets," Spock began, "You somehow managed to install and activate a subroutine to the programming code, thereby changing the conditions of the test."

"Yes, and?" Victoria shook her head, if they were about to be expelled, they might as well go out with a bang. And if the security feeds hadn't been erased like she thought they had or if her access and hack had been able to be traced...then they already knew both she and Kirk were guilty of the crimes they'd been accused of."

"In academic vernacular…you cheated."

"WE cheated?" she scoffed, she may not outright say what Uhura had told her, but she could at least make Spock aware she knew and warn him to back off, "Wouldn't you say…favoritism is a cheat as well?" she gave him a pointed look, seeing the man frown at her, confused by her words…till her gaze flickered for only a second in Uhura's direction, making Spock stiffen as he gathered what she meant.

"Let me ask you something," Kirk added, "I think we all know the answer to. The test itself is a cheat, isn't it? You programmed it to be unwinnable."

"Your argument precludes the possibility of a no-win scenario," Spock defended.

"I don't believe in no-win scenarios," he smirked.

"Then, not only did you violate the rules, you also failed to understand the principle lesson."

"Yes, yes, we know, the point of the simulation is that a captain cannot cheat death," Victoria rolled her eyes, "_Everyone_ is well aware that is the point."

"Everyone?" Kirk leaned forward to whisper to her.

"Everyone without a boy-brain," she hissed back.

Spock nodded, "Cadet Kirk, of all people, should know this."

Kirk stiffened at that, "I, of all people?"

"Your father, Lieutenant George Kirk, assumed command of his vessel before being killed in action, did he not?"

Kirk's jaw tensed at that, but he could feel Victoria rest a hand on his behind the podium, "I don't think you like the fact that we beat your test."

"Furthermore, you have failed to divine the purpose of the test," Spock just kept talking, ignoring Kirk in the process.

"To experience fear," Victoria cut in, "That's the purpose, neither of us failed to understand that. Fear for yourself, fear for your crew, fear of death…to accept it and push past it so that you can at least try to save your crew. THAT's the purpose, isn't it?"

"Yes," Spock admitted after a moment.

"Then please, do enlighten us as to how we failed to divine the purpose behind it?"

Before Spock could even counter, a young man ran in from the side doors, "Excuse me, sir," he rushed to Barnett, handing him a note. Victoria frowned as she watched the young man more so than Barnett, he appeared rather nervous, wringing his hands, and...glancing at Spock.

Barnett looked at it for only a moment, reading through it quickly, before he stood, "We've received a distress call from Vulcan," Spock stiffened at that, "With our primary fleet engaged in the Laurentian system, I hereby order all cadets to report to Hangar One immediately. Dismissed!"

Kirk and Victoria continued to stand there as all the other Cadets rushed out of the room, Spock quickly moving to Barnett to speak to him as they too headed out.

"Who was that pointy-eared bastard?" Kirk grumbled as he watched Spock disappear.

"I don't know, but I like him," Bones smirked, all too amused to see Kirk finally get called out on something stupid he'd done, something he knew he'd probably dragged Victoria into too.

"Commander Spock," Victoria sighed, "He's a Vulcan," she looked at them, giving them both a pointed look, "No matter what you think of him…his planet might be in danger and it's our duty to help him. Right?"

"Right," Bones nodded.

Kirk sighed, "Let's go," before the three of them rushed off to join the other Cadets.

A/N: I love the little slips Kirk and Victoria seem to give, apparently it's not the first time they do it either ;) Much more of that to come :)

Some notes on reviews...

I can say that Spock Prime might just know Victoria yup ;) I thought it would be an interesting twist to have her help him with the simulation and SO blaming Kirk for it. That'll actually be a little running theme with them :)


	4. Stowaways

Stowaways

Kirk, Victoria, and Bones stood in the hanger of the Academy, all of them listening to one of the other Commanders giving out the assignments for each of them. The Academy was trying to split them all up based on their focus to create an even spread and create a crew that could work together, "…Regula I. Tracy, USS Farragut. McCoy, USS Enterprise. Vader, USS Hood," the man finished, looking away from his datapad to the Cadets standing before him, "Welcome to Starfleet, godspeed."

Victoria closed her eyes, hearing her own name skipped over, hers and Kirk's actually. She could guess what that meant. Their 'hearing' hadn't been finished, the academic board hadn't made their decision about whether to expel them or forgive them or whatever it was they might do, which meant they were technically on academic suspension till the vote could be cast. And suspension, she knew all too well, meant that they wouldn't be allowed to participate in any Fleet or Academy events, not even a rescue mission.

"He didn't call my name," Kirk frowned.

"Or mine," Victoria sighed.

"Commander!" Kirk rushed off for the man.

"James, don't…" she tried to go after him with Bones.

"Sir, you didn't call my or Victoria's name," Kirk told the man, "Kirk, James T. and…"

"You're both on academic suspension," the man cut in, but Kirk just stared at him, "That means you're grounded, until the Academy board rules."

Kirk shook his head, seeming devastated as the man turned and walked away to give more assignments.

"Figures," Victoria murmured, "First time out with the Fleet and we're stuck here."

As terrible as it was to admit, what with it being a sort of rescue mission and none of them knowing what was wrong on Vulcan or how serious it might be, she was almost hoping that it would help her decide if she even wanted to finish her Cadet training. She was in the program, yes, she'd gotten nearly to the end of it, her and Kirk, in 3 years instead of 4, something her father was infinitely proud of. She and Kirk, it seemed, through their bickering and competitions with each other had urged the other to keep pushing themselves and working harder in the process. They'd made it through in 3 years and were on the cusp of graduating. And now this.

But still, despite her being so near the end, despite having made it all the way through, she wasn't sure if she really _wanted_ to see it through. She'd had fun, yes, she'd learned so much and grew and found friends worth sticking around for. But was it enough? She'd hardly been able to experience engineering in a real starship. The Academy had nearly exact replicas of the engineering rooms of the ships so it wasn't like they'd be thrown into the rooms and the ships with no experience. But…there was a difference between simulations and the actual thing. It wasn't even that she'd be alone or suddenly thrust into a position where she was running the warp drives or anything. She'd selected the more liaison role, being the one on the Bridge that communicated with Engineering, and went down to help tend to the different aspects of it when needed. It could be complicated, the engineering of a starship, it helped a captain enormously to have someone on the Bridge to interpret the information and readings and calculations that came to them from engineering.

She just…wanted to be on an actual ship and see how it all went before she decided if she wanted to commit herself to that life in graduating. To be on a ship instead of a simulation meant she'd be interacting with more than just other engineering Cadets, but with an actual _crew_. She'd have more responsibilities, she'd see more, and…maybe she'd see the wonders that her father had that just kept pulling him back into the Fleet. This…might have been her only chance to do that and now she'd lost it.

"The board'll rule in your favor," Bones tried to reassure them…until he thought about their track records and history in the Academy itself, how many times they'd ended up in detainment and nearly gotten suspended, "Most likely. Look, Jim, Vick," he glanced at them, "I got to go."

"Yeah," Kirk shook himself out of his thoughts, nodding him off, "Get going. Be safe."

Victoria rolled her eyes as Kirk gave Bones a sad smile and walked off dejectedly, that boy was a bigger drama queen than she thought he'd be. And, judging by Bones's hesitance to step onto the shuttle to the ship…he was falling for it.

"Damn it," Bones huffed, before pushing his way through the crowd and over to Kirk, "Come with me…" he turned to lead Kirk back towards Victoria, "You too."

"No," Victoria shook her head, "One of us you _might_ be able to sneak in," she remarked before he could try and persuade her to go with him, "Two of us? No one'll believe we're both sick," that was the ONLY way she could see Bones getting Kirk into the ship, by 'playing doctor' and claiming he was seeing to a patient, "And I am NOT going to the medbay, sorry Bones…you're the only doctor I like, but I will NEVER like medical."

"What are you gonna do then?" he looked at her.

She just smirked, "I have my ways, I'll see you both on the Enterprise," she winked, saluting them before she turned to head off.

Bones watched her go, not having a clue what she was talking about, neither did Kirk it seemed, before he shook his head, realizing they HAD to move NOW and half-dragged Kirk towards the shuttle's entrance. There were three shuttles set for each ship and only two were open, the last one full and already taking off.

"Bones, where are we going?" Kirk hissed at him.

"You'll see," Bones grumbled, pulling him on but, unlike Kirk guessed, PAST the shuttle entrance and into the halls, yanking him towards the medical wing of the Academy.

Victoria watched them go, having blended into the crowd of Cadets still scrambling around to try and get to their shuttles, before she took a breath and headed for the second shuttle to the Enterprise.

"Sorry," one of the female guards held up a hand to keep her from entering the shuttle, not even needing to look at her datapad to know it, she'd been in the back of the hearing, she knew that the girl and the Kirk kid hadn't been given a final decision on the actions of the Academy, she knew that even if the girl was assigned to the Enterprise or not she could NOT serve on it, "You're not cleared for duty aboard the Enterprise."

Victoria blinked, "I'm not here to serve for duty," she countered, "As you are aware, the starships are open to immediate family," she held up her ID for the woman to see, "The Fleet allows the family members of her crew to board regardless of emergency standings or status in the Fleet itself," she lowered her ID, "But then again, you could always call the captain of the vessel and tell him how you're breaking regulations in denying a member's access to their family."

The woman's jaw tensed, before she stepped aside to allow her passage, "Apologies."

"Smart move," she smirked at the woman before heading in, being sure to keep her head down and take a seat at the very back so no one would see her. She took a breath, strapping in and looked out the window, hearing a hiss as the doors behind her came up and shut, she had just barely managed to make it on board…now she just had to hope that Kirk and Bones would do the same with the last shuttle.

~8~

Victoria quickly made her way through the shuttlebay of the Enterprise, she had to get in there and get changed into the proper uniform for the Cadets, the sooner she looked like a member of the crew, the sooner she'd be able to blend in and be unnoticed. Even though the ship was enormous, it would be easy to spot someone not wearing a Fleet uniform. The sight of the ship itself from the shuttle had been breathtaking. The Enterprise was the newest ship, the most up-to-date, the sleekest, and just…outstanding. She would have been thrilled (possibly) to serve on such a ship, but right now…she had to lay low till she could get to engineering.

She gasped and turned to the side, ducking behind a panel of equipment when she saw Commander Spock step out of a shuttle too. She waited, holding her breath, knowing how sharp his hearing was, until she saw him pass her. She let out the breath and snuck out as well, following a group of women towards what she was hoping was a changing room where she'd be able to sneak a red engineering uniform out.

She knew the taboo about the uniform, how the red was unlucky in the Fleet, it really wasn't a sort of bad luck though when one looked at the people and professions that wore the uniform. Gold was for the pilots and those in command positions, controlling positions, blue for the sciences, but red…was operations, that was the ones in engineering and security. Red were the ones working around a ticking bomb and facing down the threats to the ships. They WOULD be the ones most likely to be killed or die in a way. It was just…what came with the job and the responsibilities of it more so than the color.

She'd been very relieved when she stepped into a sort of locker room to see the uniforms hanging up in a large line from a rack. Every woman was expected to select the color pertaining to her field and the size that fit them best before heading out to do just that. She made quick work of finding the red uniform and headed to the very back of the room, trying to get as far away from the other Cadets so they wouldn't see her as she could.

She'd just found a spot when an announcement came over the speakers, "All decks, this is Captain Pike," his voice boomed out, "Prepare for immediate departure. Helm, thrusters."

She turned back to her uniform, hurrying to try and get dressed, they'd be hitting warp soon and she needed to be ready, it could be…jarring at first, the first few times you were on a starship, till you learned how the ship handled. For the most part it was unfelt, but when new to a ship and not knowing what all the little shifts in it meant, the jump to warp could be felt as a small sort of jerk, a gentle one, but it could unbalance you till you got used to it. And with the Enterprise being so new…no one really knew how it handled. She didn't want to risk falling over while she was changing, her falling down would definitely attract attention of the other women, a good majority of them having been at her hearing.

She'd just gotten her uniform down around her when she felt the gentle jolt that signaled they'd made it into warp and let out a breath, using a small bench behind her to stabilize her till the jolt passed. She looked around, quickly moving to the pair of boots she'd grabbed as well and pulling them on. The second she was finished she turned to make her way past the Cadets, pulling her hair out of the messy bun it was usually in so that it would hang around her face and keep it partially blocked from the view of others.

She'd only made it halfway through the room when another voice, a young man with a heavy Russian accent, spoke on the speakers, "May I have your attention, please. At 2200 hours, telemetry detected at an anomaly in the neutral zone. What appeared to be a lightning storm in space..."

She stopped dead.

Her eyes widened as she heard that last piece of information, a lightning storm in space was _exactly_ how the crew of the USS Kelvin had described an appearance of a Romulan ship just before it attacked. She knew that was how it was described, she'd read Pike's dissertation on it, he told the story of the Kelvin so often during his recruiting sessions that she'd wanted to look more into it. It had to have been an amazing and epic ship for him to bring it up so often. He didn't exactly talk about the lightning storm to the Cadets…but he did, at length, in his paper.

"Soon after," the voice continued, "Starfleet received a distress signal from Wulcan High Command that their planet was experiencing seismic actiwity. Our mission is to assess the condition of Wulcan, and to assist in the ewacuations if necessary. We should be arriving at Wulcan within three minutes. Thank you for your time."

"Oh no," she breathed, before taking off, pushing past the various Cadets still in the room, stumbling out into the halls and looking around, trying to get her bearings and determine where the Bridge was in relation to where she was, before she saw a lift at the end of the hall. She ran for it, the Bridge was always at the highest point at the front of the ship…and that was where she needed to go.

Because he had said that they were three minutes away…and that meant Pike hadn't realized himself what they were heading for. Why would he? He'd written that dissertation more than 20 years ago, just after the Kelvin happened, he probably hadn't actually looked at it or reread it since, just keeping the bits of knowledge that he felt were relevant and useful with him. She doubted he even recalled the lightning storm as he'd sounded slightly sarcastic in her reading of it, more like he believed it wasn't an accurate description of what had happened, or that the crew had been seeing things, or were just too traumatized to remember seeing an enormous Romulan ship heading towards them and decided that a lightning storm was a better lead in to the unexpected attack.

She had three minutes to get to the Bridge and warn them NOT to go to Vulcan. She winced as she literally pushed one of the Cadets that were about to enter the lift out of the way and pushed the buttons to close the doors, taking it up as high as it could go, running out and around the nearest corner the second the doors were open. She nearly sagged with relief when she saw the Bridge at the end of the hall after she'd run around the corner.

She bolted down the hall and ran into the Bridge, "Stop the warp!" she shouted.

Captain Pike turned at the sudden intrusion and stood, "What are you doing here?" he asked her harshly, frowning at her, "You and Kirk are on academic suspension."

"I also have family onboard, in case you've forgotten," she snapped back, beyond trying to be polite to her commanding officer, not when the lives of everyone on the ship were in danger, "Or would you like to see me suspended from that as well?"

"Victoria…" the man shook his head, "You need to get off the Bridge, this is reserved only for authorized personnel…"

"This is a _trap_," she cut in, "The attack on Vulcan is a trap, you need to stop the warp."

"And you need to start following orders," Pike straightened, "Get off the Bridge, I will come find you and speak to you later about stowing away onboard a starship!"

"Just LISTEN to me!" she strode up to him, "You want to give me a demerit, go ahead, you want me kicked out of the Academy, fine, tell the board that, but just LISTEN. For once would you…"

"I will not stand here and be berated by a Cadet," the man snapped himself, making her flinch at how he was nearly shouting now, "By a Cadet who has constantly and repeatedly shown a completely lack of respect for authority, broken the rules and regulations of the Academy, and proven herself to be unfit for a position in the Fleet," he looked at her as she just…stared at him for what he'd just said in front of the entire Bridge, "You and James Kirk…" he shook his head, "You came on with MY recruitment," he looked at her a moment, his lips in a firm line, "And I have NEVER been more disappointed in either of you."

Victoria blinked, her mouth falling open just a little as she breathed out, Pike walking past her, ignoring the tears that had started to collect in her eyes from his berating of HER.

"Captain!" a voice shouted behind her and she closed her eyes, hearing that it was Kirk.

"Jim, no!" Bones joined him, trying to pull him back.

"Captain Pike, we have to stop the ship!" Kirk went right up to the captain.

"Don't bother," Victoria murmured, taking a breath and blinking quickly to keep the tears in, to clear them up, before she turned, "He won't listen, to anyone."

Kirk looked at her, starting to frown when he saw the wetness in her eyes, she hadn't actively cried, there were no tear tracks, her eyes weren't red but…he could see it, the glossy sheen in her eyes, the color more pronounced. Something had upset her, "What's…" he began to speak, to ask her what was wrong, but Pike cut in.

"Kirk, how the hell did _you_ get on board the Enterprise?!" Pike glared, in NO mood to deal with this. He could understand how Victoria had gotten on, she DID have family there and it was within her right to ask for board because of that, but Kirk? Kirk he couldn't explain.

"Bones let him on," Victoria remarked, moving over to them, ignoring Kirk watching her intently, she was being…far too quiet, more quiet than she ever was.

"Uh, Captain," Bones tried to explain as the captain turned to him expectantly, not seeing Kirk giving Victoria a questioning frown or her shake her head at him to not ask, "This man's under the influence of a severe reaction of a Melvaran flea vaccine, completely..."

"Bones," Kirk shook his head, pulling his gaze away from Victoria, "Bones..."

"...delusional. I take full responsibility."

"Vulcan is not experiencing a natural disaster," Kirk shouted, "It's being attacked by Romulans!"

"Romulans?" Pike scoffed, "Cadet Kirk, I think you've had enough attention for one day. McCoy take him back to medical and you," he pointed at Uhura who was frowning at Victoria as well, "The one from the bar…"

"Uhura, sir," Uhura reminded him.

"Get her out of here," he nodded at Victoria, making her wince, "We'll have words later."

"Aye Captain," Bones agreed, moving to pull a struggling Kirk out as Uhura tried to gently guide Victoria to the door, but the woman refused to move.

"Look, sir, that same anomaly..." Kirk began.

"Mr. Kirk..." Pike gave a short snap.

"Neither Cadet are cleared to be aboard this vessel," Spock moved over to them, having been on the Bridge as acting Commander.

"Look, I get it, you're a great orator," Kirk shot back, "I'd love to do it again with you too but I've got Victoria here and she keeps me sharp enough…"

"I can remove the Cadets," Spock turned to Pike, ignoring him.

"Try it! These Cadets are trying to save the Bridge!"

"By recommending a full stop mid-warp during a rescue mission?" Spock narrowed his eyes at him.

"I tried to tell you," Victoria cut in, Kirk starting to smirk at hearing a familiar fire in her voice…this was his favorite Victoria, when she was angry and she was raging and not much about being witty as getting her point across even if she had to beat it into you, "It's a TRAP. It's NOT a rescue, we're headed right for an ATTACK."

"Based on what facts?"

"You REALLY want to go there?" Victoria stepped up to him, "Fine. The 'lightning storm in space' has happened before, hasn't it Captain?" she nearly spat the last word, looking at him as he frowned.

"On the day of my birth actually," Kirk agreed, "Right before a Romulan ship attacked the USS Kelvin."

"You, of all people, should know that, sir," Victoria sent him a glared, "Or had you truly discounted that little blip in your dissertation?"

"We've BOTH read it," Kirk told him, confirming his agreement with her.

"You talked about how the crew saw a ship which had 'formidable and advanced weaponry' and yet a ship like that was never seen or heard from again."

"The Kelvin attack took place on the edge of Klingon space and, at 2300 hours last night, there was an attack," he told the captain, recalling what he'd over heard Uhura say to Gaila when he'd been trying to swipe her keycard, "47 Klingon warbirds destroyed by a Romulan, sir. It was reported that the Romulans were in one ship, one massive ship."

Pike shook his head, overloaded with information, he recognized the parts from his paper, yes, but the other facts that Kirk had presented, that was new, "And you know of this Klingon attack how?"

"Sir," Uhura stepped up, "I intercepted and translated the message myself. Kirk's report is accurate."

"_Now_ will you listen?" Victoria gave him a hard look, "We are warping right into the middle of a an attack! Whatever the reason, that same ship that attacked the Kelvin is attacking Vulcan right now."

Pike looked down processing that, when Spock begrudgingly spoke up, "The Cadets' logic is sound. And Lieutenant Uhura is unmatched in xenolinguistics, we would be wise to accept her conclusion."

Pike nodded, glancing back at a man standing by the communicators, "Scan Vulcan space, check for any transmissions in Romulan."

"Sir, I'm not sure I can distinguish the Romulan language from Vulcan," the man frowned.

"What about you?" he turned back to Uhura, "Do you speak Romulan, Cadet Uhura?"

"And then some," Victoria answered for her, offering her friend a small smile, "She knows all three dialects."

"Relieve the lieutenant," Pike ordered her.

Uhura nodded and moved to do just that with a, "Yes sir."

"Hannity," he turned around to one of the other Cadets, "Hail the USS Truman."

The man tapped a few buttons and frowned at the readings, "All the other ships are out of warp, sir, and have arrived at Vulcan, but we seemed to have lost all contact."

"Sir," Uhura swallowed hard, "I pick up no Romulan transmission…" she looked at Kirk and Victoria, tense and alarmed, "Or transmission of _any _kind in the area."

"Not even from other Fleet ships?" Victoria had to add, NEEDING Pike to realize what was about to happen.

"None at all," Uhura confirmed.

"It's because they're being attacked," Kirk shot a look at Pike, stepping closer to Victoria, presenting a united front.

Pike looked between them, between the two most troublesome Cadets in the Academy, between the two that he had personally seen to entering the Fleet, between the two that were, he was entirely certain, had the MOST potential of all the Cadets in that room…and nodded, "Shields up, red alert."

Victoria let out a breath, turning away, sagging in relief at that, Kirk patting her on the back, moving his arm around her as she turned back, to half-hug her, it was his way of thanking her, had been for a while. He never said it openly, neither did she, but they had their own way of thanking the other. He'd slip his arm around her shoulders and give her a half-hug and she'd punch him in the shoulder before rubbing it. Right now he was thanking her silently for her effort in helping him. He had NO idea how she'd gotten onto the ship, he'd have to ask later, once this was all said and done and Vulcan was safe, just how she'd done it, but for now…he just wanted to thank her for agreeing with him. It was a rare instance, the two of them agreeing on something, but they'd both come to the same conclusion about the lightning storm, having both read Pike's dissertation, and he was just glad for that.

"Arrival in Vulcan," one of the pilots, a young Asian man, announced, "In 5 seconds...4...3...2..."

The entire Bridge stared in horror for only a split second as they arrived at the end of what looked like a massacre, pieces of other starships drifting past, bodies of other Cadets floating among the debris, everything just torn apart and mangled.

"Emergency evasive!" Pike snapped out of his shock first and gave the order as chunks of starships drifted towards them.

"Running sir," a Cadet reported.

"Damage report!"

"Deflector shields are holding."

"All stations," he gave the command and the room sprang into actions as he ran to the comm., "Engineer Olson, report!"

"Full reverse," a voice came from engineering, "Come about starboard ninety degrees, drop us underneath and..." the man trailed off as they stared at the massive Romulan ship that was sitting right in the center of the wreckage above Vulcan.

"Captain," Spock called from a control panel, "They're locking torpedoes."

"Avert auxiliary power from port nacelles to forward shields," Pike ordered…only for the room to jolt moments later as a torpedo crashed into the ship, "Sulu, status report!"

"Shields at 32 percent," the Asian man confirmed, "They're weapons are powerful, sir. We can't take another hit like that."

"Get me Starfleet Command."

"Captain," Spock shook his head, "The Romulan ship has lowered some kind of high energy pulse device into the Vulcan atmosphere. Its signal appears to be blocking our communications and transporter abilities."

"All power to forward shields. Prepare to fire all weapons!"

"Captain," Uhura reported, "We're being hailed."

Pike looked at her, glancing back at Kirk and Victoria, before nodding at the woman to patch it through, the viewscreen blinking to life and revealing a bald man with dark eyes, what appeared like tribal tattoos all over his face, clearly a Romulan.

"Hello," the man grinned.

"I'm Captain Christopher Pike," he began, "To whom am I speaking?"

"Hi Christopher, I'm Nero."

"You've declared war against the Federation. Withdraw. I'll agree to arrange a conference with Romulan leadership at a neutral location."

Nero scoffed, "I do not speak for the Empire. We stand apart, as does your Vulcan crewmember," his gaze flickered to Spock, narrowing, "Isn't that right, Spock?"

Spock frowned and stepped forward, looking at the man curiously, "Pardon me, I do not believe that you and I are acquainted?"

"No, we're not," Nero agreed, "Not _yet_. Spock, there's something I would like you to see. Captain Pike, your transporter has been disabled. As you can see by the rest of your armada, you have no choice. You will man a shuttle, come aboard the Narada, for negotiations," Kirk looked over, feeling Victoria tense at that, though he was as well, they both knew that that…was exactly what had happened on the Kelvin as well, the captain had been taken to the other ship moments before it fired on the Kelvin, the captain had likely died as well, "That is all."

"Don't go," Victoria called as Pike stood, the screen blinking out, "You CAN'T go."

"He'll _kill_ you," Kirk agreed, "You know that."

"Your survival_ is_ unlikely," even SPOCK had to nod at that.

"Captain," Kirk stepped up, "We gain nothing by diplomacy. Going over to that ship is a mistake."

"I, too, agree. You should rethink your strategy."

"I understand that," Pike nodded at them, before looking around the Bridge, "I need officers who have been trained in advanced hand-to-hand combat."

"I have training, sir," Sulu raised his hand.

"Come with me. Kirk, you too. You're not supposed to be here anyway. Chekov, you have the comm.."

"Aye aye Captain," the young Russian boy nodded.

"And me," Victoria stepped up.

"No," Pike shook his head, "You need to stay…"

"You JUST said you need people with hand-to-hand combat," she cut in, "I've had more defense training than most Cadets," she reminded him, "My father saw to that."

Pike looked at her a long while, seeing her not back down, and sighed, "Fine, with us," he turned and headed out of the Bridge.

"Victoria…" Kirk began.

"Do not make me punch you unconscious to prove a point James," she turned to him, "I knocked out Cupcake, don't think I won't do the same to you if it means I'm a part of this mission."

Kirk just held up his hands in surrender and gestured her ahead of him, a small smirk making its way onto his face as he followed her, a girl who could fight…she didn't need to prove anything, she'd knocked him on his ass on more than one occasion when they'd go at each other, but in a spar-type setting. He had no doubts she'd be able to handle herself on this mission…he was just worried for the Romulans.

~8~

Pike led the way through Engineering, Sulu, Kirk, Victoria, and another man, Engineer Olson after him, all of them dressed in space-jump suits. Olson and Victoria were in red, Sulu in yellow, with Kirk in blue.

"Without transporters," Pike began, explaining the situation and what would be expected of them, "We can't beam off the ship, we can't assist Vulcan, we can't do our job. Cadets, you will space-jump from the shuttle. You will land on that machine they lowered into the atmosphere that's scrambling our gear. You'll get inside. You'll disable it, then you'll beam back to the ship. Mr. Spock," he tapped a comm. on, "I'm leaving you in command of the Enterprise. Once we have transport capabilities, communications back up, you'll contact Starfleet, report what the hell's going on here. And if all else fails, fall back, rendezvous with the fleet in the Laurentian system. Kirk," he pointed to the man, "I'm promoting you to First Officer."

"What?" Kirk blinked.

"_James_?" Victoria gaped at him, she knew that it was Kirk's dream to one day work to a captain's position, but…now?! He was going to appoint Kirk to a position just short of it, after he'd just let loose on her and told her how disappointed he was in the both of them?! What, was this his way of making it up to them, to appoint one of them in a position of power like that? Well she couldn't wait to see what the hell he did to apologize to HER.

"Captain," Spock's voice called, "Please, I apologize. The complexities of Human pranks escape me."

"It's not a prank, Spock," Pike sighed, "And I'm not the Captain, you are. Let's go," he turned to lead them into the shuttle.

"Captain," Victoria rushed up to him, "What happens to you after we stop the drill?"

"Oh," he looked at her, offering her what she was sure was meant to be a reassuring smile, "I guess you'll have to come and get me," he nodded, tapping the comm. again, "Careful with the ship, Spock. She's brand new."

And with that, he turned and entered the shuttle, heading to the pilot's compartment as they gathered in its belly, Victoria and Kirk tenser than the others at Pike's word. There were hundreds, thousands of recruiters in the Fleet, Pike was just one of many, but…a handful of those on the Enterprise were Cadet that he had recruited, the two of them among that number. The recruiters and their Cadets shared a special relationship, because the Fleet really did become like a family in the end. The recruiters were like the favored aunts and uncles or even second parents, to think that Pike…the man responsible for them both being there…was going to be in a situation where he'd be at the mercy of Nero and his Romulans…it alarmed them.

"Shuttle 8-9," they looked up, hearing one of the crew reporting to them, "USS Enterprise. You are cleared forward..."

Kirk looked at Olson, "You got the charges right?" he needed something to distract him from this.

"Oh yeah," the man grinned, " I can't wait to kick some Romulan ass. Right?"

"Just don't get your ass kicked in return," Victoria muttered as the shuttle started to rise.

"So…" Kirk turned to Sulu, "What kind of combat training do you have?"

"Fencing," Sulu deadpanned.

"Great," Victoria scoffed, "Looks like it's up to me and you James."

"What about the boomer over there," Kirk nodded at Olson.

She shook her head, "He's too cocky," she swallowed hard, nudging him slightly, "Like you were before you met me."

"I was not cocky."

"Arrogant then."

"Like you can talk," he scoffed.

"We made each other better," she settled it, "We can handle this with our brains…Olson…" she nodded at the man, "He's gonna get too into it and he'll get himself killed."

"Pre-jump!" they heard Pike call before Kirk could respond to that.

They looked at each other before they put their helmets on and got off their seats, crouching on the floor, bracing themselves.

"You are clear from USS Enterprise airspace," the Enterprise announced.

"Cadets," Pike sighed, "We're approaching the drop zone. You have one shot to land on that platform. You may have to fix this to pull your 'chute as late as possible. Three...two...one. Remember, the Enterprise won't be able to beam you back until you turn off that drill. Good luck."

And with that, the floor fell out from under them, sending the four of them rocketing down towards the planet, following the line of some sort of drill.

Kirk struggled a moment but managed to tap his comm., "Kirk to Enterprise. Distance to target, 5,000 meters."

"4,200 meters to target," Sulu added moments later as they flew.

"4,000 meters," Victoria reported, seeing that flashing in her helmet.

"3,000 meters!" Olson cheered.

"2,000 meters," Kirk called.

"Pull your chute," Sulu ordered, him, Kirk, and Victoria doing just that, Victoria having pulled it only a few seconds before Sulu did, right when Kirk had shouted out before. Olson though…did not.

"2,000 meters!" Olson continued to fall.

"C'mon, pull your chute, Olson!" Kirk shouted at him.

"Not yet! 1,500 meters!"

"Open your chute!" Sulu tried.

"Yeah!"

"Olson!" Victoria snapped, "Pull your goddamn chute!"

But Olson waited till, "1,000 meters!" he whooped, before finally pulling his chute…only to slam into the platform they were aiming for, falling past it, his chute getting sucked up into the energy beam that was the drill…disintegrating him as the trio watched in horror.

A/N: Ouch, poor Olson :( Poor Victoria too, for Pike to say that to her, but at least he looks like he's at least trying to make up for it after he realized they were right. We'll actually find out a rather large fear of Victoria's through her helping them with the drill ;) But not next chapter, nope, next chapter will be a small flashback of how the friendship began for Kirk and Victoria ;)

Some notes on reviews...

Lol, yup, little bit of Jara :) I always loved when Joss Whedon would put little references to his other works in different shows, I try to sneak little things in here and there :) Bones is definitely like a big brother and we'll find out why in the very last 'flashback' :)

I hope you enjoy your break :) Just think, tomorrow this story will be halfway over though :) I'm glad you're enjoying it so far :)


	5. Partnerships

Partnerships

_Two years ago…_

"This is all YOUR fault James," Victoria grumbled as she sat in the stark white room, the 'detainment' room of the Academy.

It wasn't really a 'detainment' room but that was what all the Cadets called it when they were forced to sit in it. In old terms, it was probably better to call it 'detention.' But as they were all adults, or the Academy liked to believe they were (she had some SERIOUS doubts about James T. Kirk), they were too old to have detention. So they had decided to call it detainment instead. The Cadets that is. The Academy itself preferred to think of it as pre-probation, it was where the Cadets that didn't quite break a serious rule but still broke a minor one were taken.

It truly was essentially the detention of old though. They were expected to sit in the room, either actually writing lines or just…sitting there, wasting time, while another minor official of the school supervised them. Their current supervisor was a rather old man, so old he was literally sleeping sitting up in his chair at the head of the white room. The two of them, the only ones there, the only ones who typically ended up there, were sitting there bored out of their minds. The room was old, the chairs were nearly ancient and creaky and…hard. They really hurt the bottom after a while, the back as well, and a majority of the Cadets that ended up there were entirely convinced that the chairs themselves were some sort of medieval torture device meant to discourage the Cadets in question from committing more unruly behavior.

Clearly, it hadn't worked on the two of them.

"Oh yeah, how's it MY fault Victoria?" Kirk rolled his eyes at her, slouched in his chair with his arms crossed, having lost feeling in his back an hour ago.

"If you had just let Cupcake off, we wouldn't be here," she remarked.

"And if YOU had just told him to leave you alone, we wouldn't be here either."

"Oh, so now it's MY fault?"

"You're so keen to blame ME," he countered.

"Because it's YOUR fault! YOU were the one who punched him!"

"Because he was harassing YOU, if you hadn't noticed."

"Of _course_ I noticed," she hissed at him, dropping her voice when she saw the old man shifting in his sleep, "If you had just kept out of it I would have handled it just fine."

It really had been the most ridiculous situation she'd ever been caught in detainment for, and she'd been there plenty of times. Half the time she wasn't even sure WHY she was there, half the time she wasn't sure if she was actually trying to end up there either. It was like…despite deciding to try for the Fleet, a part of her didn't want to be there even still. Like a part of her kept fighting against her placement, getting her in trouble as though in the hopes of getting her kicked out.

It never worked though.

All it really served to do was make her father even more disappointed in her.

She hated that, when he felt that way about her. But…she'd noticed that he just got that way more and more ever since she'd gotten into the Academy. She tried, she actually DID try to not get in trouble…but it just seemed to happen. But it wasn't her fault! Most of the time it was Kirk's fault. Despite how much they seemed to grate each other's nerves and how often they both got into little tiffs, they both seemed to just…end up there together. And it wasn't even that their own arguments got them into the situations where they ended up there, it was just…they tended to end up there together.

One time it had been because Kirk had been irritated with another Cadet trying to interrupt him talking to her, essentially goaded the man into attacking him first. And because she had been caught pulling Kirk off the other one, the professors thought she'd been a part of it. She was starting to think that Kirk should stop coming up with nicknames for other Cadets, 'Sugarlips' had been the chosen one for that particular Cadet. She truly did NOT want to know why he had chosen that name for the boy, she was truly hoping it was because the Cadet in question had some sort of weird chapped lips thing going that made them look like he'd just eaten some sort of powdered thing or some sort of sugar covered substance. It had nothing to do with her though, Kirk just didn't like people constantly interrupting him when he talked to any sort of woman.

Another time she'd caught a girl Kirk had been 'dating' cheating on him and the girl's engineering project just…happened to blow up in her face. Not a huge explosion, it was really very small, the girl just lost her eyebrows that was all! But it had been enough of a claim of 'sabotage' and fingers pointed to get her in detainment as well. And of course, because Kirk had been laughing his head off at it, the girl had pointed fingers at him as well. It wasn't even that she cared that Kirk was being cheated on, it was just the principle of the thing, cheating was just…wrong.

She had ample experience with that, with people cheating on the ones they were supposed to care about. She wouldn't EVER stand for anyone doing that to someone else. _Not ever_.

This time though, it had been a mixture of the two of them for once. Usually one of them often got sucked into the 'crimes' of the other, but this was…both of them. 'Cupcake' as Kirk had identified the one Cadet in the bar so long ago, a Cadet he refused to learn the name of and one she didn't care enough to hack into for more information for (and he rather did reminder her of a cupcake at times), was bothering her. Well, more like harassing her, that much was true.

Apparently the man had been quite impressed with how she had managed to take him out with a punch…despite the fact it had sprained her hand to do so. It wasn't anything special, she didn't have any sort of incredible strength, she wasn't the best fighter in the Academy. It had been one technique her father had taught her himself. Her father HAD enrolled her in a few self-defense classes through the course of her life, a more rigorous one when she'd been younger and then more a periodic refreshing of her techniques. She knew how to defend herself, she could fight if she had to, but it was all very basic. There really was nothing to be impressed with.

But because he _was_ impressed, Cupcake hadn't left her alone.

At all.

For the last _year_.

At first it was fine, he'd pass her in the halls and stop to chat, or he might spot her in the canteen a time or two and stop to say hi before continuing to his friends. But slowly he started talking to her more, trying to sit with her despite the fact she was clearly uncomfortable around him. He, at one point, took a class that had nothing to do with his own focus path and she was fairly certain it was only because it was a class SHE was in, given how he'd wanted to partner up with her for a project or two. She'd only just managed to keep the work for that project confined to the study tables of the library and research centers instead of working on it in either of their rooms. Which had been an enormous relief in the end.

She'd had to ask Uhura, Gaila, and her own roommate, Taplin, to sit with her when they were in the canteen just so that Cupcake wouldn't try to join her. It had worked for the most part, she'd avoided him in the halls as well and hoped that, the longer he didn't see her or interact with her, the less he'd want to and try to. All it seemed to do though was make him more agitated with why she was avoiding him, until he'd finally confronted her in the middle of one of the courtyards.

She'd been outside, sitting there, just going over notes for a class…when he'd walked up and started trying to talk to her. She'd been short with him, curt, tried to subtly tell him that whatever he might want from her she was not going to give, not even friendship. It was her personal belief that he wasn't the right fit for a Cadet, even Kirk was better suited as Kirk hadn't been the one to start the fight in the bar last year. All he'd done was call the man 'cupcake' when he was clearly inebriated and patted his arm…and the man had attacked. If a Cadet, no…if a member of the Fleet EVER acted like that in a negotiary situation or even in a hostile situation, that would be it. War would break out and that was not something the Fleet tolerated.

She didn't want to associate herself with someone like that and had even told him so, gone so far as to tell him she'd rather be handcuffed to Kirk for the rest of her time at the Academy than have to partner with him ever again. Low and behold, just the mention of the man's name and Kirk had popped up. Granted, he'd been walking past and hadn't been stalking her like Cupcake seemed to, but he'd just been there. He'd, of course, HAD to ask what they were talking about as he'd heard his name, and Cupcake had responded it wasn't any of his business.

She'd rolled her eyes as the two men had gotten into their own bicker-war and turned to go, only for Cupcake to grab her wrist and claim they weren't finished speaking. Kirk had felt the need to jump in and remark that he was sure she'd made her point clear and that they WERE finished speaking. And then, of course, the moment Kirk laid a hand on Cupcake to pull the man's wrist off her…Cupcake attacked again. And because Kirk had 'touched him first' (despite the fact Cupcake had grabbed HER first) he'd been the one to blame for the altercation that had followed. Very much like the bar scene, the fight was, save that Kirk had been sober this time and had a better chance of fighting back, that and Cupcakes goons were mysteriously missing. He'd fought Cupcake off better than before, and by better she meant he didn't end up with a bloody nose again.

But they'd both ended up in detainment when she'd tried to break them up and been elbowed in the face by Cupcake himself. The man had seemed shocked he'd hit her, even accidently, and started to apologize…only for her to 'kick him into submission' by utilizing a very…specific area of the anatomy. It was probably a low blow to hit below the belt (literally and figuratively) and she'd been pulled into detention with a Kirk who hadn't stopped laughing till they'd reached the room. They'd been left there for hours so far and it was getting to them. Neither of them did well with such silence, and it was SO boring! Both of them could FEEL themselves getting slower and slower, both physically and mentally the longer they sat there just watching the old man sleep.

And so, to her, it really WAS Kirk's fault.

If he'd just kept walking she would have been able to deal with Cupcake herself. It wasn't like the man could just grab her in the middle of the courtyard, with other Cadets right there, and do anything to her. But Kirk hadn't seemed to realize that, he'd just HAD to get started on Cupcake instead of trusting that she could handle herself. She was a Cadet, she'd gotten into the Academy on her own and had to meet all the requirements for application, of which, basic self-defense was one of them. There were courses taught there at the Academy of course, with the...dangers of space, some of which were still unknown, every member of a crew needed to know at least a basic idea of how to protect themselves. But it seemed Kirk had conveniently forgotten that detail merely because she was a woman.

And now they both were in detainment…again.

"Yeah, you had it _hand_led alright," Kirk shot back sarcastically, "You had Cupcake's _hand_ on you."

"And I would have removed it myself if you'd left me alone. I can fight my own battles," she huffed, "If you'd just let me punch him myself maybe I'd get out of here."

Kirk fell silent at that, "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked after a moment of just…looking at her. It didn't even seem like SHE realized what she'd said just then.

She sighed and rubbed her face, "Nothing. Just…forget it."

"No," he sat up more, "You don't want to be in the Fleet?"

"Yes," she answered, before wincing, "No. I don't know."

"This isn't like some sort of girl mind-changing thing that happens when you're P…"

"No!" she snapped, it irritated her more than she could express when people did that, assumed that just because a girl was confused that it meant she was being visited by a certain friend, "Does it mean, when you change YOUR mind, that you're…"

"No," Kirk cut in, clearing his throat.

"Then don't assume that for women!"

"Sorry," he offered, before looking at her more intently, "You really don't want to be here though?"

She let out a breath, "I thought I didn't. And then I did. But things keep happening and I can't help but wonder if it might just be that I really didn't after all."

Kirk blinked at that, "Come again?"

She turned in her seat to look at him, debating for a moment whether she should actually talk to HIM about this, Kirk, James T. Kirk, the one who caused her the most problems and seemed to make her question everything. She supposed…it couldn't hurt…Kirk himself hadn't wanted to be there at first. She knew Pike had been trying to recruit him, she knew she had likely been the one to convince him to at least try…or challenged him to try. It…would sort of only be fair for him to know her own doubts about the Fleet like he'd had his.

"At first I thought I wouldn't want to be here," she explained more, "But…a certain recruiter changed my mind…"

"Pike," he guessed, recalling how he'd been the one assigned to the recruits in the bar last year.

"Yeah," she nodded, "I decided to try, to give it a chance and…it was ok. I…fit in, I liked it, I was doing well. But…" she shook her head, "This?" she gestured around the detainment room, "This isn't something I want to experience every other week. I just want to get through this program and get into the Fleet. Every time I end up here, I just keep wondering if maybe it's something I'M doing that's trying to tell me I want to be sent away."

Kirk nodded slowly at that, "I used to do that in Iowa," he admitted to her as well, "I'd steal my stepfather's car, I'd commit other felonies…it was like I wanted to stay," he cleared his throat at admitting this to her, "Like you noticed, but at the same time I wanted out and I was hoping…"

"If you committed one that was just bad enough they'd move you," she finished.

"Yeah."

They fell silent a moment, both stewing over what they'd gleamed off the other. This was…probably the most they'd actually talked, meaningfully talked, to each other since they'd met, since she'd challenged him to join the Fleet, since he'd warned her he'd work out the sort of girl she was.

He had to admit, he was failing at that rather abysmally though. In all the time he'd been at the Academy the last year, all he'd seemed to do was argue with her and pick little fights with her…and get in trouble over her. That much he DID know about her, she was trouble. She WAS just like he was, crafty and creative and trouble. But that was all he really knew about her to be honest. He knew she had dark ash blonde hair, blue eyes, that she was in engineering, and that she was a Cadet like he was. But that was all he really had gathered. He'd spent more time trying to bait her and get her riled up than actually fulfilling her challenge to work out what she was.

He'd learned more about her in just a minute of conversation than he had in a year of trying to irritate her. And…he had to admit, they were quite similar in that regard. They'd both been hesitant to join the Fleet, they'd both been approached by Pike, Pike had been their recruiter and gotten them in. They'd both struggled in being there. It made him consider exactly why he was getting into trouble like this now. It wasn't like in Iowa, it wasn't that he wanted to stay but also wanted to leave. No, he…sort of liked being there, learning about the Fleet about the starships and codes and responsibilities. In a way…it was a little like getting to know his father through it.

His mother would tell him stories when he'd been younger, before she'd remarried, of his father, the sort of man he was, the sort of Cadet. His mother hadn't been a member of the Fleet, she'd been a waitress in a local eatery that the Cadets usually frequented. His father, according to her, would come in every other day and order something, anything, even if it was a cup of coffee, and start up a conversation with her. It had taken his mother a year to realize he'd been coming in so often because of HER. She hadn't known he didn't enter the eatery when she wasn't working as she hadn't been there. It hadn't been till she'd forgotten her scarf once and gone back the next day, on her day off, and noted that he wasn't there at his normal time. She hadn't realized she'd noticed he had a 'normal time' till then either. She'd asked him about it the next time she saw him and he'd stuttered out some excuse or another and finally blurted out that he liked her company and just wanted to get to know her.

His mother, the sassy woman she was, had just told him he'd get to know her better over dinner than taking his lunch order. And that had been the beginning of the end for his father. As the man had learned more about his mother, his mother learned more about him and his passion for the Fleet. She hadn't wanted to board the Kelvin while she'd been pregnant, but he'd convinced her it was safe, had sworn he'd KEEP her safe…and he had. The conviction and dedication his father had for the Fleet…it had to mean that the Fleet was worth being a part of and he liked to think he was getting closer to his father in his journey through the Academy, that he was making his father proud in working towards officer and then perhaps captain of his own ship.

He was determined to be captain longer than his father had been though, MUCH longer.

His mother had already lost one man she loved, he couldn't let her lose him too.

Which brought up the question as to why he kept ending up in detainment as well. It wasn't like he WANTED to be there. He actually didn't. He was trying to use this as a fresh start, or at least he'd intended it to be. He'd wanted to prove that he wasn't just a repeat offender but he WAS a man with genius level intellect like his scores showed. But it seemed like the past just kept coming back to haunt him in how he was repeatedly back in detainment. He honestly wasn't sure why it kept happening. Maybe he was just being too obvious, maybe he should try a little more subtlety.

"So why didn't you?" she asked him, glancing over as she unknowingly interrupted his thoughts.

"Why didn't I what?"

"I don't know," she shrugged, "Commit a larger crime."

"Because if I had…" he sighed, "If I'd been taken away…my mom would have been crushed."

She nodded, "And you didn't want to disappoint her," she sighed, "I know the feeling."

"You stayed for your mom?" he looked at her.

"My dad," she corrected, taking a breath, "He'd be…so disappointed if I got kicked out, if I'd decided not to go to the Fleet at first."

"Just your dad?" he frowned.

She swallowed hard, "My mother's not in the picture."

"Sorry," he winced, "I didn't know."

"She's not dead James," she rolled her eyes, "She just…didn't love my dad enough," she scoffed, "Cheated on him with another man, then left him. Didn't even try to cover up what she'd done, didn't apologize, didn't even try to make it work."

"Ouch," he frowned, "Sorry."

She shrugged, "It was years ago. I'm over it."

"You don't sound over it," he remarked, hearing a strain in her voice.

"And you don't sound torn up over your father's death either," she snapped back, proving his point that she _wasn't_ over it at all.

How could she be though? Her mother was…her mother. And she'd betrayed their entire family. And for what? Because her father was committed to his job? Because he was determined to see space a safe place for them both to live and grow in? It wasn't a good enough reason for her, not at all, for her mother to do what she'd done just because she wasn't 'getting enough attention.' She knew that it was a terrible thing for a woman to feel, neglected, but…the thing that truly made it hard to forgive her mother was that she hadn't even TRIED to talk to her father about it. All she'd needed to do was just bring up her concerns, voice her insecurities, and she knew her father would have done all he could to change his ways.

She had seen it, before her mother had really started to drift away from them, before (she felt) her father realized what her mother was doing, he'd have done anything for his wife, to make her happy. But when it became all too clear to him (not to her though as she'd been too young to understand the signs) what exactly her mother was getting up to…that was when he'd started to change as well. That was when the Fleet had REALLY started to become a focal point in his life. That was when the Fleet had started to become an escape for him.

She sighed, rubbing her head, "Sorry," she offered, grimacing at the thought of what she'd just said, at the line she'd just crossed, that was...not right of her at all, "That was out of line."

Kirk just shrugged at that, "We're in the same boat," he remarked, "Both lost a parent, both trying to please the other one…"

"And failing miserably at it," she added with a small laugh, getting him to chuckle as well.

"Look at that," Kirk grinned at her, "Who knew we could actually talk without trying to kill each other."

"Bones," she said instantly, starting to smile as well, "Remember, he thought we were married."

"Oh yeah," he nodded, "Imagine the horror."

"Are you trying to say it's a terrifying thought to marry me?" she crossed her arms at him, sitting up in her chair to face him.

"Yes," he said instantly, "You're scary as hell Victoria."

"Well it wouldn't exactly be a walk in the park to be stuck with you James," she shot back, though they both had a small smile on their faces now, less bite in their words than they'd had before.

"You know what though," Kirk began, "It DOES give me an idea…"

"So they finally replaced that bulb above your head then?" she quipped, "It only took them, what? 23 year?"

"Bite me Vicky."

"You wish Jimmy."

Their eyes narrowed at each other for a minute before they started laughing, "What's your idea?" Victoria conceded. She had a vague idea how his mind worked, and if it was anything like she feared it might...this ought to be good.

"Marriage…"

Ok...NOT quite what she was expecting...at all.

"I'm NOT marrying you," she cut in, "Not even with your blue eyes and your perfect hair."

He rolled his eyes at that, "I don't want to marry you either Miss Button Nose-Bright Smile. If you must know, I wasn't proposing marriage."

"Good, cause you'd definitely have to buy me a drink first," she smirked, "Rounds and rounds of drinks for an entire night to get me THAT drunk."

"Ha, ha, no," he deadpanned, rolling his eyes, "I meant…a partnership."

Victoria eyed him a moment, seeing he actually appeared to be serious about it, "I'm listening."

He grinned, "We both get in trouble, a lot."

"Exponentially," she corrected.

"And half those times have something to do with each other, right?"

"More than half," she rolled her eyes.

"So if we weren't going for each other's throat half the time and getting into fights with other people because of the other…I think we'd make a good team."

"It WOULD keep the detainment to a minimum if we weren't fighting against each other," she had to agree.

"And you have to admit, we DO compliment each other when we're forced to work together."

She nodded a little at that, they'd been paired together for one project in the last year. Their teacher had been one of the newest additions to the Academy and had...not had a clue as to the animosity that seemed to radiate off of them. They'd been paired up and nearly the entire class had feared for their lives at the two of them being forced to talk to each other and work together. For that moment only they'd put aside their disputes and focused on the project, both of them actually taking their studies seriously. Their presentation had been one of the best in the class in the end. The teacher had actually commented on how great a team they made...which had just made them look at each other and stick out their tongues before storming off in different directions.

"Our energy would be better spent focused on other things instead of pestering ourselves."

"So I propose a truce," he offered, "Just imagine what we could accomplish if we join forces."

She started to smirk, "James…I think this'll be the start of a wonderful partnership."

"Victoria, I was hoping you'd say that," he held out his hand to her, the two of them shaking on it, smiling at each other as they did so, not even realizing, as their shaking died down, that they were just smirking, holding the other's hand.

It really WOULD make more sense, not just in the less energy they spent bickering and arguing with each other the more they would be less likely to get caught in the middle of one and sent to detainment. It also meant that…two heads would be better than one. They both had…skills in different areas, skills they'd both noted over the course of the year whenever they landed back in detainment together or heard about how one made it there without the other. If they joined up…they could pool their skills, they could work together and there'd be less chance of them getting caught if they did.

She was brilliant at engineering things and hacking, where as he was good at the more physical aspects, sneaking and manipulating the situation, fighting and hiding. If they could work together, form some sort of partnership…well, the Academy wouldn't know what hit it…

And maybe, just maybe, one day…that partnership would turn to friendship.

And then the Fleet would have something else to worry about.

A/N: I can say something in this chapter will come back to bite them later in the series }:) Speaking of the series...I can't believe this story is halfway over! O.O Time flies lol :)

On a lighter note though, I love how all the little things slip through, the comments, their actions, the way they get each other...and they can't quite see it lol :) It's very fun to write :)

Some notes on reviews...

I do plan to do a Cora-Tory crossover one day yup :) For this year, I'm planning the SuperWhoLock (Michelle-Proffy-Leena) and I'm considering a second one in October as a second installment of WWTW (featuring all the 11s). But for next year there's always the possibility that we'll get a Star Trek crossover...or a Merlin/DW crossover ;) I might make 2015 a sort of dual crossover thing, like...Cora-Tory for April and Kona-Athena for October, not sure yet, but I do have one planned ;)

I won't say who her father is just yet. I can say it IS someone from the movies, but I won't say if it's someone from this movie or the next one }:) We'll have to wait and find out when Kirk does ;)

I could see them married too :) But I won't say what they're like in the Prime-Universe just yet ;)


	6. Losses

Losses

Kirk winced as he landed on the platform only moments after Olson had been sucked into the energy beam below the platform. He scrambled, reaching out for anything to hold onto as the chute caught the wind and tried to pull him right off the platform.

"Pull your chute in James!" he heard Victoria shout over the comms..

"Thanks," he called back sarcastically, "I NEVER would have thought to do that Victoria!"

"Just do it!"

He winced, reaching up with one hand to slap the chute back in and groaned as he rolled onto his back, taking a moment to breathe…only to look over when he heard a hatch pop to see Romulans rushing up onto the platform, heading right for him. He jumped to his feet just as one reached him, trying to pull his phaser out to defend himself when the Romulan knocked it out of his hand.

"Sulu!" he heard Victoria cry and glanced over for only a moment to see that the man had overshot the platform, his chute getting caught in a hole and leaving him dangling over the edge, but there wasn't anything he could do as the Romulans attacked him.

"Pull it in!" Victoria repeated to Sulu, watching from above as he slapped his chest to retract the chute, getting pulled up onto the platform in the process…only to realize too late that the hole his chute had gotten caught in wasn't just a hole…but one that shot out fire, excess from the drill. He grabbed out and took hold of the platform, trying to keep himself from being pulled in.

"Sulu!" Kirk called, trying to knock the Romulan he was fighting out, but the man was strong, luckily, Sulu managed to grab his sword and cut the strings attaching him to the chute, freeing himself just as a second Romulan ran out to attack him as well.

"Duck!" Victoria warned.

Kirk looked up for only a moment to see her about to land and threw himself at the ground, Victoria slamming into the Romulan, using him as a means to stop herself while also smacking him right off the platform, hurtling towards the planet. Kirk jumped to his feet to help steady her, slapping her chestplate to retract the chute before she could, not wanting what happened to him, Olson, or Sulu.

"Thanks," she let out a breath.

"Nice timing," he joked quickly, "Good aim," he nudged her, she really had one of the WORST coordination when it came to targeting things that he'd ever seen. Unless she was literally a foot in front of it, she could hardly ever hit a target with a phaser. The fact that she'd managed to hit the Romulan with her body while navigating the chute…was literally nothing short of a miracle.

"I…had no idea that would work," she admitted, she'd just…hoped for the best. She'd learned to do that a lot when it came to Kirk, just…leap in and hope.

"A little help!" Sulu shouted at them, trying to sword fight with the last Romulan, "Give me your hand! C'mon!"

Kirk grinned and winked at Victoria, before taking a running start and tackling the Romulan, not having expected him, right off the platform in a move similar to what Victoria had just done…Victoria rushing forward to pull him back by his pack when he nearly toppled over the side of the platform as well.

"Thanks," he mimicked.

She shook her head, "You're an idiot you…" she cut herself off, screaming and flinching, ducking down and covering her head when the fire erupted out of the hole Sulu's chute had been trapped in.

"Tory!" Kirk was at her side in an instant, kneeling beside her as she crouched down, panting with her eyes squeezed shut tight, "It's ok…"

"What's wrong with her?" Sulu frowned, trying to catch his breath from his own fight.

Kirk looked up at him, "She um…she doesn't like fire."

"She's a pyrophobic?"

Kirk blinked, "If that's what a fear of fire is, then yes."

"I'm fine," Victoria swallowed hard, seeing the fire disappear, "I…I'll be fine," she breathed, standing up shakily, Kirk staying right beside her, his eyes on her, "I'm fine Jim," she murmured.

Kirk nodded, they didn't…ever really call each other Jim or Tory often, it usually only happened when there were feeling something to the extreme, like alarm or some other frightening emotion. Sometimes, when they were very angry at each other, they'd call each other Jimmy and Vicky, but they'd been calling each other that one less and less the last few years. It had become their own little...thing...to call each other James and Victoria. At first it had been irritating, especially when someone else tried to call them that. It was a little amusing when they met someone knew and they heard one of them calling the other by their full name and assumed that was how they liked to be addressed. They'd instantly go on the defensive and tell them NOT to call them that, that they hated being called their full names, and to call them Jim/Tory.

The confusion evident on the faces of others when, right after that, they'd proceed to call each other James/Victoria always made them laugh. They didn't understand it themselves, why they were so ok with the other doing it but no one else. They'd always hated everyone calling them that, yet...there they were. It HAD started off with them being so irritated with each other, both using it as a means to just offend the other even more. But...slowly it had started to become more like a personal means of addressing each other. Then it became a thing that they could only stand to hear the other doing. Their parents still called them their full names, but...when the other called them it...it was just...different.

"Well that's great you're fine," Sulu remarked, "But Olson had the charges!"

"I know!" Kirk snapped, glaring t Sulu. He knew it was important to the mission, that they take out the drill, but…Victoria was important to him. He…didn't admit that often, ever really, but…there were times she'd be devastated or really truly scared and he'd just…it would hit him in the gut how much he actually cared about her. But then he'd try to push it away, Victoria would do something or say something that made him think she was just…his friend, and he'd push it down and bury it.

He'd make excuses. Yes, he cared about her, she was a good friend. Yes, he worried about her, it was the decent thing to do. Yes, she was important to him, she was his partner in crime as it were. All excuses, he knew, but he went with it. He just…he never had this problem before, liking a woman he was almost certain didn't like him in that way in return. Often it was he flirted and they fell for his charms, if just for a night or a short while, or he'd flirt but not care if they felt something back, or the girl would come onto him. But he'd never…cared about the other girl like this.

Because here he was, in the middle of his first ever Fleet mission…and he was more concerned with Sulu's disregard of Victoria's panic attack than the fact that they couldn't dismantle a drill and potentially save a planet.

"So what do we do?" Sulu called.

Victoria looked around, trying to see if there was something else they could use, if maybe the Romulans had had some sort of bomb or something to attack them with…it was a long shot, she knew, but…she smirked, they had rifles!

"Grab a gun!" she turned to grab them both, thankful that the Romulan she'd slammed into had dropped his while fighting Kirk, and tossed one to the man in question, before she turned to fire at the platform with it, Kirk following her lead, neither of them stopping till they heard the drill power down and the energy beam disappear.

They'd just turned to each other to smile…when the drill shook, something rocketing down through it to the planet.

"Kirk to Enterprise," he held up his comm., "They just launched something at the planet, through the hole they just drilled. Do you copy Enterprise?"

"Yes sir," one of the female Cadets responded.

Victoria shook her head, knowing that whatever it was wasn't good, especially not when a low rumble sounded from the planet, "Beam us up!" she called into the comm., just knowing that it could NOT be good, at all.

"Standby, locking on your signal…"

They all jerked as the platform started to rise, Victoria falling to her knees as Kirk stumbled back…Sulu though, fell right off the side.

"Sulu!" Victoria shouted.

"I can't lock onto you!" they heard over the comm., "Don't move. Don't move!"

"Help!" Sulu shouted.

"Sulu!" Kirk grabbed Victoria's hand and pulled her off the platform with him as he jumped after the man. They both had their chutes, they'd need it to keep their descent slow enough and calm enough to be transported in a fall.

"I'm going to KILL you James!" Victoria shrieked as they fell off the platform as well.

"I know!" he cried over the sound of the rumble, the two of them plummeting towards Sulu, just managing to grab onto him, "We got ya!" Kirk gasped as they grabbed Sulu, "Pull my chute!"

Sulu reached out and slapped Kirk's chest, trying to get the chute to extract at the same time Victoria managed to hit her own, Kirk's was blown out, the strings breaking from the sudden gust of wind, all of it seeming to be more turbulent with whatever was happening to Vulcan. Victoria's as well was nearly half blown off, only a few strings remaining but not enough to do much to help them.

"Kirk to Enterprise!" he shouted into the comm., "We're falling without a chute! Beam us up!"

"I'm trying!" was the frantic reply, "I can't lock on your signal, you're moving too fast."

"Well try harder!" Victoria cried, feeling like she couldn't breathe as half her chute tried to pull her up, but with the two men weighing her down it was like she was being torn apart, the harness that held it pressing against her chest as it struggled.

"Enterprise, where are you?" Kirk called as they got nearer and nearer the planet.

"Hold on, hold on!" they could hear Chekov speaking now.

"Now, now, now! Do it now! Now, now, now!"

"Don't move! Hold on! Computating gravitational pull and...gotcha!"

They gasped as they were surrounded in the familiar lights of the transport…and slammed right into the floor of the transporter pad aboard the Enterprise, Victoria letting out a loud groaning cry as one of the boys' (she wasn't sure who, probably Kirk though) elbows slammed into her stomach in the hit.

"Oh!" Chekov cheered, seeing the three of them safe, "Yahmyoo!"

"God," Kirk winced, rolling onto his back, but taking Victoria with him in the process…apparently her chute, in the transport, had gotten twisted around the men and, as he moved, he'd pulled her on top of her.

Victoria just let out a breath and let her head fall onto his chest, too…completely exhausted at the moment to care. And besides…Kirk made a good pillow, warm and soft.

Sulu swallowed and looked at them, "Thanks."

Victoria managed to lift her hand and wave it at him, brushing it off as no big deal, only for Kirk to lift his hand and capture her own, threading their fingers together as she dropped her arm, just…holding her tightly, and if he gave her an extra squeeze as his other arm wrapped around her well…no one had better say anything about it.

"Clear the pad," an order came as Spock strode into the room, "I'm beaming to the surface."

"You're doing what?" Victoria winced as they tried to get up, a few other Cadets moving to help them, seeing them stiff and weary.

"The surface of what?" Kirk mimicked, "What, are you going down there? Are you nuts?"

"Commander you CAN'T do that!" Victoria looked at him, "Pike assigned you captain for a reason! You cannot abandon your crew!"

But Spock just crouched down on the transport pad once it had been cleared, "Energize!"

"Spock!" Kirk shouted, but the man disappeared.

Victoria looked at the other Cadets, "I thought Vulcans were supposed to be logical?"

"His mother's down there," Uhura told them, having followed Spock in an effort to try and…well, she didn't know what, she couldn't ask him not to go there and save her and his family, the elders, "His father, the keepers of his planet's culture…"

"Mothers are overrated," Victoria muttered.

Kirk absently reached out and put an arm around her in comfort, knowing better than anyone there that she didn't have the best relationship with her mother, "And some aren't," he reminded her, giving her a small squeeze.

"You…" she pointed at him, before poking him in the cheek, "Still need to let me meet Winny."

He rolled his eyes at how she called his mother Winny, he was even more embarrassed to know his mother had TOLD her to call her that. Apparently Victoria had hacked into his computer once so that she could access his video feed that he shared with his mother, he'd talk to her from time to time, give her updates on things (defend against the notices she received for his various detainments), and introduced herself. He'd come back to his room to see her and his mother laughing their heads off…with his mother showing the most embarrassing baby pictures of him known to man.

It was NOT his fault his only female cousin had wanted a princess party for her 4th birthday and he'd had to dress up as one with the blonde wig and pink dress and all! ALL his other cousins, the few he had, had dressed as princesses too…but it seemed his mother was only showing her the ones of HIM.

He'd been horrified.

But ever since then, his mother would periodically want to talk to her and he'd let them bond, but they hadn't actually met in person despite him promising he'd go home for a holiday or two and take Victoria with him. His mother seemed to have it set in her head that the two of them were 'perfect for each other' and were 'destined to get married' or something. When talking to him in private and asking about how she was doing, she'd always call Victoria her future daughter-in-law. He'd tried to explain that if they didn't end up trying to smother the other person with a pillow by the end of the day then it was a good day, marrying her would probably put him in an early grave. She'd just laugh and insist he bring her over.

He did try, he did intend to, but…holidays came and went and it just…never happened. And it had nothing to do with him wanting to spend time with her for holidays before his mother completely embarrassed him and he did himself in. Not at all.

"And you still need to actually tell me your mom's name," he reminded her as well.

"Why?" she scoffed, "It's not like she'll be at graduation and…" she cut herself off, swallowing hard, thinking about her father, he might not even be there either…

"WE might not be at graduation," Kirk muttered.

"Thanks James," she rolled her eyes, "You HAD to go there."

He held up his hands in surrender, but before he could add more, Spock's voice came over the comm., "Spock to Enterprise, get us out now!"

Chekov, who was sitting at the controls, quickly moved to do that, "Locking on you. Don't move. Stay right where you are…" they looked over at the transport pad to see the lights starting to glow, vague forms appearing within it, "Transport in five...four...three...two..."

"NO!" they heard Spock scream as one of the forms disappeared, "No!"

"I'm losing her!" Chekov cried as an alarm started to go off, the small group watching in horror as one of the lights stopped working, the person being transported just…gone, "I'm losing her, I'm losing her! No…" Chekov let out a breath, "I've lost her…"

The transport solidified, Spock standing there, with his hand held out towards someone who wasn't there, a few other older Vulcan men and women behind him…

The Enterprise shook, turning sharply, and they looked out the window where they could see the planet imploding, as though it were being sucked into a straw and just…blinking out of existence, a blackness, a black hole, spreading into the space around it…all of them turning to Spock, the man completely shell-shocked to have lost his planet…and his mother…at the same time.

~8~

Kirk and Victoria sat in the hall outside the medical bay, Victoria refusing to enter it if she could help it and, since her injuries from their fight and fall weren't severe, she wasn't forced to enter. Kirk, when she refused to go completely in, refused to go in without her. Bones was sure it was some sort of ploy to try and get her to go in as well, like…he wouldn't get treated if she didn't…but it failed, because Victoria had just given him a look and rolled her eyes, before she went to sit on one of the benches in the hall. Kirk should have known, if that was his intent, that it wouldn't work. If he'd been seriously injured Victoria would have literally kicked him into the medical wing…and stayed outside the door.

"Acting Captain's Log," they looked up as Spock's voice came over the speakers, Bones rolling his eyes as he examined them, but more because he had to examine them…again…than because Spock was talking, "Stardate 2258.42. We have had no word from Captain Pike. I have therefore classified him a hostage of the war criminal known as Nero. Nero, who has destroyed my home planet and most of its six billion inhabitants. While the essence of our culture has been saved in the elders who now reside upon the ship, I estimate no more than ten thousand have survived. I am now a member of an endangered species."

"Quite the drama queen, isn't he?" Kirk muttered to Victoria.

She just sighed and leaned forward, rubbing her hands over her face before clasping them together and resting her hands on her chin, "At least they're capable of conscious thought and planning," she leaned back again, "Other animals aren't so lucky, need help and programs."

He nodded, "We good Bones?" he looked at the man as he took some notes on his datapad.

Bones gave them a look, one eyebrow raised, "Yeah," he remarked dryly, "Good as always."

"Wonderful," Victoria nodded, getting up…wincing as her stomach tugged a bit, Kirk following her lead and groaning as his bruised ribs moved too.

Bones rolled his eyes at them, "For two people who get in more fights than anyone I've ever known, and I've seen all out bar brawls, you both hate getting examined. Here's a thought, stop it."

Kirk just grinned and patted Bones on the shoulder as he passed, "Too much fun."

"James needs a babysitter," was Victoria's excuse.

"Victoria loves the thrill of the fight."

"Bones did you happen to bring a portable scanner?" she looked at him, "I think he took one too many blows to the head."

"Come on," Kirk rolled his eyes, reaching out to take her hand, tugging her closer as they walked on, Bones shaking his head as he saw Kirk squeeze her hand and not let go of it.

Those two…if they didn't get together after this mission…he was going to lock them in a closet together.

~8~

A short while later would find the crew gathered on the Bridge, Kirk sitting in the Captain's chair as Victoria spoke quietly with Uhura, having been 'promoted' by Spock when they'd passed him in the halls on his way to check on the Vulcans being tended in the medbay, to active Engineering Liaison for the Bridge now that Olson was gone.

They looked over when Spock himself entered, "Have you confirmed that Nero is headed for Earth?" he looked at Uhura.

"Their trajectory suggests no other destination, Captain," Uhura nodded.

"Thank you, Lieutenant."

"We can't be sure Nero won't attack other planets in the Federation on the way though," Victoria argued.

"Out of the chair," Spock moved to the captain's chair, ushering Kirk out of it.

"Well, if the Federation in general is a target, why didn't they destroy us?" Chekov crowned.

"Why would they?" Sulu shook his head, "Why waste the weapons? You know... we obviously weren't a threat."

"That is not it," Spock argued, "He said he wanted me to see something. The destruction of my home planet."

"How the hell did they do that, by the way?" Bones asked as he joined them on the Bridge, "Where did the Romulans get that kind of weaponry?"

Spock nodded at the logical reasoning in that question, slowly pacing around the room, "The engineering comprehension necessary to artificially create a black hole may suggest an answer. Such technology could theoretically be manipulated to create a tunnel through space-time."

"Damn it man, I'm a doctor, not a physicist. Are you actually suggesting they're from the future?!"

"If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

"Sherlock Holmes," Victoria muttered.

"Yes."

"Then, what would an angry, future Romulan want with Captain Pike?" Kirk shook his head, THAT was the part that was bothering him. They'd had ample captains to choose from in the other ships they attacked, why pick Pike?

"As Captain, he does know details of Starfleet's defenses," Sulu reminded them.

"It's not that," Victoria countered, "They could have threatened any of the other ships in the Fleet that came to Vulcan," she swallowed hard, "They wanted him because Spock was his First Officer," she reasoned.

Spock nodded, that did make sense. If this was all about making HIM suffer, for whatever reason, to take his captain would certainly be one way to do it.

"What we need to do is catch up to that ship," Kirk spoke up, "Disable it, take it over, and get Pike back."

"We are technologically outmatched in every way," Spock turned to him, "A rescue attempt would be illogical."

"Nero's ship would have to drop out of warp for us to overtake him," Chekov agreed.

"We CAN boost our warp gear," Victoria countered, "All it would take is to just minimize some of the…"

"Remaining power and crew are being used to repair radiation leaks on the lower decks," Spock cut in.

"Yes, I understand that," Victoria blinked, "I wasn't talking about using other crew members or using more power. I can do it myself, I wrote a paper on maximizing warp gear with minimal use of power by altering the…"

"Unimportant," Spock shook his head, "We must gather with the rest of Starfleet, to balance the terms of the next engagement."

"There won't be a next engagement!" Kirk frowned at him, "By the time we've gathered, it'll be too late. But you say he's from the future, knows what's going to happen, then the logical thing is to be unpredictable!"

"You are assuming that Nero knows how events are predicted to unfold. To the contrary, Nero's very presence has altered the flow of history, beginning with the attack on the USS Kelvin, culminating in the events of today, thereby creating an entire new chain of incidents that cannot be anticipated by either party."

"An alternate reality?" Uhura stared at him, only slightly incredulous.

"Precisely," he nodded, "Whatever our lives might have been, if the time continuum was disrupted, our destinies have changed. Mr. Sulu, plot a course to the Laurentian system warp factor three."

"Spock, don't do that," Kirk stepped up to him, "Running back to the rest of the Fleet for a…a…a…"

"Confab?" Victoria supplied.

He pointed at her, "A confab is a massive waste of time!"

"Orders issued by Captain Pike when he left..." Spock began.

"He also ordered us to go back and get him. Spock, you are captain now! You have to be..."

"I am aware of my responsibilities, Mr.…"

"Every second we waste, Nero's getting closer to his next target."

"That is correct and why I am instructing you to accept the fact that I alone..."

"I will not allow us to go backwards..."

"Jim!" Bones shouted, looking at Victoria…confused as to why she wasn't trying to stop the man from arguing with his commanding officer, she was always the one trying to pull him OUT of trouble, but she was just standing there, watching the two men go back and forth like it was a tennis match.

"...instead of hunting Nero down!" Kirk finished.

"Security," Spock looked to the side, "Escort him out."

"Don't!" Victoria called as two guards moved to grab Kirk, the man all too willing to fight them off.

"Hey!" one of the men struggled with him as he squirmed in their grip till he was free and rounded on them, swinging away.

"No, Jim!" Bones rushed over with a sedative…

But Spock beat him to it with a Vulcan nerve pinch, sending Kirk to the ground, "Get him off this ship."

Victoria closed her eyes for a moment, shaking her head as they hefted Kirk up, she was so going to regret this…before she stormed over to Spock and spun him around by the arm, punching him across the face...and immediately trying to grab her hand as a pain shot through it, a very familiar pain that she'd felt when she'd punched Cupcake ages ago...and sworn never to punch anyone for James T. Kirk again...

That lasted long.

Unfortunately Spock grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, making her cry out in even more pain as Uhura flinched and Bones looked to the heavens exasperated, before he shoved her to a third guard who had come to help, "Her too."

Victoria winced as the guard took the sedative from Bones and stabbed her in the neck with it, unwilling to risk her trying to fight him like Kirk had the others. She couldn't blame the man though…this was…what she'd wanted to happen.

Fastest way to be expelled from a ship…attack the captain.

She honestly had no idea what possessed her to do half the things she did when it came to Kirk. Half the time it was her trying to keep him from getting expelled. For someone with a 'genius-level intellect' he really DID have a boy-brain. He thought with his fist more than his mind and THAT got him into trouble. She wouldn't have ended up in half the situations that sent her to detainment if it weren't for Kirk. She knew the rules of the Academy, of the Fleet, inside and out, backwards and forwards, she'd been raised on the principles of the Fleet. She KNEW them, so well, she knew the loopholes in them, she knew the extent you could push them to. And she was always very careful that she do things that she could justify or defend within the scope of the rules.

If she'd been given a chance to speak to the board before the attack on Vulcan had been made, she would have explained just WHY she'd agreed to help Kirk with the Kobayashi Maru, she could argue it in that...if it was so easily hacked, they needed to work on the program. It was a long shot, but it was an excuse that had gotten her out of quite a few situations in the past, that it was her way of showing the Academy where it was weakest to improve itself. But this...this was so far beyond anything she'd ever done, she was knowingly and willingly attacking the acting captain for the sole purpose of breaking the rules entirely to be expelled from the ship. There had to be something wrong with her.

And there was.

His name was Kirk.

She supposed that was what happened to you when you...er, _cared_...about someone else more than yourself. Kirk just...had this way of getting under her skin and, try as she might...she couldn't get him out. She tried not to let it show often, if she could help it, just how much she cared about him. She knew his reputation, she knew how he was around the ladies, and she just...she knew that was one reason Bones would make these warning little comments whenever Kirk said something to her that was even slightly suggestive. Neither man thought she heard him, but she did. Bones knew what Kirk was like as well as she did, and he was...protective of her. She'd heard him threatening Kirk on more than one occasion when it came to her. She didn't know why though...Kirk probably only saw her as the girl he could flirt with because 'nothing would happen' or something and she refused to let on that...she wished something would.

The last thing she heard before her world went black, was something about Delta Vega and escape pods…

A/N: Oh Tory, you just keep hurting your hand over Kirk lol. Very sweet moment for them next chapter though :) Imagine the two of them, somewhere cold, and trying to stay warm and worrying about each other but trying not to seem like it...in front of Spock Prime }:) SO much fun writing the next chapter ^-^

Some notes on reviews...

I can't say what they might be in Spock Prime's universe, but we'll find out very soon ;)

Oh Bones will be at his wit's end with the two of them teamed up definitely :)


	7. Delta Vega

Delta Vega

Kirk winced as he slowly came to, blinking blearily as he tried to move…only to realize three things. The first was that it was a little dark where he was, making it hard to see. The second was that he was in a small sort of escape pod which explained why he couldn't really move. And the third…was that Victoria was cramped right in front of him, literally pressed against him. Apparently, whoever had sent them both off the Enterprise hadn't exactly thought to put them in two separate pods.

"Victoria?" he shifted trying to shake her awake without touching anything inappropriate, "Victoria?" he shifted, managing to get his arm, which was stuck behind his back for some reason, free and bring it up to her, touching her shoulder, actually shaking her, "Victoria," he sighed when she didn't wake still and took a moment to just look at her.

She was knocked out, as far as he could see, he could kind of make out a small puncture mark in her neck and let out a long breath, knowing that Bones or someone else had probably given her a sedative. Her right arm was curled up to her chest, her face relaxed in sleep. For a brief moment…he didn't want to wake her. She looked so…peaceful and just, well, beautiful. She did that a lot at times, fall asleep on him, on his shoulder, on his lap, on his chest, depending on the position. He always hated to wake her up mostly because of how she looked when she was sleeping...partially because, depending how he did it, she might punch him as she jerked awake.

Before he even realized he was doing it, he'd reached up and gently touched her cheek, softly stroking her cheek with a thumb, smiling as he saw her starting to wake up. He turned his hand over, letting his knuckles graze across her cheek lightly, "Victoria."

Her face scrunched a moment before she blinked awake, "James?"

"Hey," he murmured, his voice hushed.

She frowned, and moved to touch his cheek like he was her, only to wince and pull her arm in closer to her chest, "Ow…"

"What happened?" he pulled his hand from her cheek and reached out for her hand, touching it as lightly as he could, already able to see the bruises in the darkness.

"I um…punched Spock," she muttered.

"What?" he nearly laughed at that, probably would have too if not for the shock he was feeling.

"Yeah," he could see the blush on her cheeks as well, "Um, sort of had to."

"Why'd you have to punch him?"

"Besides the subcontext of 'punch me, punch me' every time he opens his mouth?" she gave him a look, making him chuckle, "It was um…"

He waited but she didn't finish, "What?"

She took a breath, "They wouldn't have listened to me to go get Pike either," she said quickly, "And they would have just detained me and made me feel useless or they'd expel me from the ship too hours after you so I had to punch him so that he'd send me out WITH you."

He blinked, "And you're not useless here?"

She shrugged as much as she could in the cramped space, neither of them seeming to have noticed it after waking just how close they were, "Seems to be my life's goal to keep you alive," she murmured, "Makes me useful to you."

He smiled, "You're more than just useful Tory."

She returned his smile with a small one of her own, "And you're more than just a pain in my ass Jim."

He laughed at that, not having expected anything less from her, "You were really THAT desperate to be with me that you punched Spock?"

She rolled her eyes, "Oh yes, I just need you SO much James that I broke my hand over it."

"Good," he reached out, putting his now free arm around her, tugging her even closer, "I need you too. You know."

She blinked, "You do?"

"Oh yeah," he nodded, "Body heat from two people will be much more bearable when we get out there," he jerked his head to the side.

She shook her head at him and glanced to the windows to see them covered with what could only be snow, "That's Delta Vega," she told him, "Where they sent us, "It's a class-M planet…"

"Which means it's full of wild, dangerous animals," Kirk remarked.

"There should be a Starfleet outpost out there somewhere."

"Computer?" he called out, "Where's the nearest Starfleet outpost?"

"Fourteen kilometers to the northwest," the computer announced, "Remain in your pod until…"

"Yeah, not gonna happen," he cut in, looking at Victoria, "You gonna be ok?" he glanced at her hand.

"Should be," she nodded, "Just let me stick my hand in the snow for a minute or two to numb it and I'll be shiny."

"Good," he swallowed, before taking a breath and hitting the button on the controls, opening the pod, the two of them jumping up and grabbing the two, rather thin, jackets that had been provided them, and pulling them on. Kirk looked over, taking Victoria's hand as they began their trek across the planet, the snow falling heavily around them in a blizzard.

~8~

Kirk and Victoria struggled across the stark white land of Delta Vega, an arm up before their faces, their hoods up and tight around their heads, to block the snow rushing at them.

"Stardate 2258.42…4 uh…4 whatever," Kirk called into a small recorder, shouting above the roaring of the storm, "Acting Captain Spock has marooned me and Victoria on Delta Vega, what I believe to be a violation of security protocol…um…"

"49.09," Victoria shouted to him.

He nodded to himself, "Covering the treatment of prisoners aboard as starship…"

"James…" Victoria stopped suddenly, "What's growling behind us?"

Kirk winced at that, having not heard that till now, that low growling, before he turned to see some sort of creature he couldn't quite make out in the snow rushing towards them, "Run!" he grabbed her good hand and they ran off, him keeping a firm hold of Victoria's hand to keep her from tripping as she ran with her other hand clutched to her chest.

They gasped, tripping when they felt the ice behind them break up, sending them toppling to the ground, Victoria crying out in pain as she landed on her arm. They looked back to see another, much larger creature, with FAR more arms than the first had burst out through the ice and attacked the other creature…before turning its gaze on THEM.

"Run," Victoria gasped, reaching out for his hand and pulling him up, the two of them racing off as they were chased by that creature as well.

They screamed they fell over the side of a large ledge, down a hill. Kirk reached out and grabbed Victoria close to him, wrapping his arms around her tightly, wincing as he felt her tense, he was crushing her arm between her chest and his, but…it would keep it from moving, from hitting the snow repeatedly as they toppled down it. If he got extra bruises…that was fine with him as long as she didn't get more hurt than she already was.

They groaned as they hit the base of the hill, hearing a crashing noise beside them to see the creature had fallen down after them, rolling towards them at an alarming speed. Kirk jumped to his feet, yanking Victoria up and pulling her on, spotting a cave in the distance and heading for it.

"Go, go, go!" he pushed her on towards the cave, needed to get her farther away from the creature. They'd just entered the cave when he tripped.

"James!" she screamed, turning around to see the creature had already caught him. She started patting down her coat, hoping there might be a blaster in there somewhere...but there was nothing, "James!"

"Victoria run!" he struggled in the hold of the beast as it dragged him nearer…but she ran over to him, grabbing his hand in her one good arm and trying to pull him back from it, "I said run!"

"When do I ever listen to you!?" she snapped, pulling more…

Only for the beast to let go of him suddenly, him scrambling away from it as an old man in a white snow suit raced at it, waving a torch at the creature, forcing it away. It scampered back, rushing out of the cave as the man let out a breath of relief. He turned slowly to see Kirk on the ground, panting, his back pressed to Victoria's front as she held him there, kneeling behind him, her one arm around him and resting on his chest, both of them staring up at him.

"Victoria and James T. Kirk," the man greeted with a smile.

"Excuse me?" Kirk blinked, seeing the older man was a Vulcan.

"How did you find me?"

"You know us?" Victoria eyed him, she'd never met any Vulcans besides Spock and the few that had been saved onboard the Enterprise and he didn't look like them. Well…he looked like an older Spock but…no, no Spock was on the Enterprise.

"Of course I do," the man frowned, looking between them, "I have been, and always shall be, your friend."

"Wha..." Kirk shook his head, scrambling to get up, Victoria helping him, him standing a little before her in defense of this strange man neither of them knew, making Victoria roll his eyes at him, the man smiling at the sight, "Oh, look...uh, we don't know you."

"I am Spock."

"No way," Victoria shook her head, moving to stand beside Kirk, the same time that he said, "Bullshit."

Spock frowned as he spotted Victoria's clutched hand, "What happened to your hand, Victoria?" he took a step towards her, but Kirk moved in front of her again, "Please, Jim," he pulled out a small bit of cloth from his pocket, what he'd been using to help protect his mouth from the snow, a small scarf.

Kirk glanced at it and then Victoria, before staring at 'Spock' for a moment longer, and moving to the side, but watching the man like a hawk as he reached out to gingerly wrap the scarf around her hand, binding it for the moment.

"I um…punched…you?" she hesitated speaking, her words coming out as more of a question than anything, still not sure she believed this was Spock standing before them. For one he wasn't acting like an emotionless robot willing to throw them off a ship for the slightest bit of sass.

"Why would you do that?" he wondered.

"You're an ass?" she suggested.

Spock just let out a laugh at that.

~8~

A short while later they were sitting before a small ring of stones, Spock kneeling beside it, working on building a fire, "It is remarkably pleasing to see you again, old friends," he smiled at the duo, "Especially after the events of today."

"Uh, sir we appreciate what you did for us today," Kirk said hesitantly, "But…but if you _were_ Spock you would know we're not friends at all. You hate me, you hate Victoria by association, you marooned me here for mutiny and her for assault."

"Mutiny?" Spock looked at him questioningly, only to hear a crackling and looked down to see the fire starting. He glanced up at Victoria a moment, and back at his work, "I apologize for the fire Kirk," he murmured.

Kirk frowned, "I'M not the one afraid of fire," he said, nodding at Victoria as she flinched when the fire caught. She could usually handle small ones, but…with everything happening…she just wasn't in the right frame of mind to deal with it at the moment. Kirk moved closer to her, putting his arm around her, having claimed it was for body heat like before but really…he could tell this was all getting to her.

"Yes I know," Spock nodded, moving to sit on the other side of the fire.

"Then why apologize to ME?"

"I was not."

"You said Kirk," he pointed out.

"I was, in fact, referring to your wife," Spock nodded at Victoria.

"WIFE!?" they both shouted, looking at each other and half-jumping apart, before Victoria turned back to Spock, "What do you mean, wife?!"

Spock blinked and frowned, "You are…not married yet?"

"We're not even together!" Kirk cried.

"You're not?" Spock actually seemed shocked and disheartened by that, "I do not understand…I was your, as the humans would say, 'Best Man' at the wedding. I was there…you were…not much older than you are now," he blinked, he honestly would have thought that they were at the same age as they'd been wed before, "I suppose I should have known…you do not act like you normally do."

"And how's that?"

"I believe the human term is…affectionate," Spock supplied, "Loving. I have heard Dr. McCoy call it sickeningly sweet as well."

"US?" Victoria blinked, that was…NOT like them at all.

"Are you not the captain of the Enterprise either?" he needed to know just how much else had changed.

"Captain?" Kirk shook his head, "_You're_ the Captain. Pike was taken hostage by Nero…"

"Hold on," Victoria cut in, still stuck on something, "We're married? Me and James? The two of US?" she looked at Spock, incredulous, "Do Vulcans go senile in old age?"

Spock though just looked solemn, "Then it is as I feared…Nero has influenced more in his efforts than I originally thought."

"What do you know about Nero?" Kirk frowned at him.

Spock sighed, "He is a particularly troubled Romulan," he nodded to himself, getting up to move closer to them, reaching out to touch Kirk's face, "Please, allow me. It will be easier."

"Whoa, whoa," Kirk leaned back, "What are you doin'?"

"I think it's called a Vulcan Mind Meld," Victoria whispered to him.

"Yes," Spock nodded, "Our minds. One and together," before he reached out to touch Kirk's temple, closing his eyes and focusing on the memories he wished to share, "129 years from now, a star will explode, and threaten to destroy the galaxy…" he frowned, allowing Kirk to see just that, vague images of it all, "That is where I'm from, Jim. The future. The star went supernova..." the star exploded in his mind, "Consuming everything in its path. I promised the Romulans that I would save their planet," flashes of images of different Romulans flew across their minds, "We outfitted our fastest ship. Using red matter, I would create a black hole, which would absorb the exploding star. I was en route, when the unthinkable happened. The supernova destroyed Romulus," he winced, remembering the planet being consumed by it, "I had little time. I had to extract the red matter, and shoot it into the supernova," there was a large syringe being stabbed into a red, liquid ball suspended in a container before it was placed into a torpedo-like object and fired at the star, "As I began my return trip, I was intercepted. He called himself Nero. Last of the Romulan Empire," Kirk winced, seeing the Narada appear, "In my attempt to escape, both of us were pulled into the black hole. Nero went through first. He was the first to arrive," Victoria swallowed as she listened to the story, knowing that their arrival in THIS universe had to be the attack on the Kelvin, "Nero spent the next 25 years awaiting my arrival. But what was years for Nero, was only seconds for me. I went through the black hole. Nero was waiting for me. He held me responsible for the loss of his world…" Spock let out a shaky breath, recalling how he'd been captured and led before Nero, "He captured my vessel, and spared my life for one reason. So that I would know his pain. He beamed me here, so that I could observe his vengeance. As he was helpless to save his planet, I would be helpless to save mine," they could both see his perspective from the planet's surface, watching as Vulcan was destroyed in the sky, "Billions of lives lost, because of me, Jim. Because, I failed."

He pulled back, Kirk letting out a breath, panting, tears in his eyes. Spock looked at him, solemn, "Forgive me. Emotional transference is an effect of the mind meld."

"Show me," Victoria called, "If you're up to it," she added, knowing that it would be difficult for the man to have to recall all that a second time.

Spock though, nodded, and reached out, touching Victoria's temple, showing her the same memories, allowing Kirk a moment to gather himself.

"So you do feel?" Kirk murmured as Spock pulled back from replaying the memories to Victoria, the girl turning and resting her forehead on Kirk's shoulder, taking a deep breath to try and calm down.

"Yes," Spock nodded.

"All that time travel…it changed everything," Victoria whispered, swallowing hard.

Spock gave her a solemn nod in agreement, "Tory, Jim, we must go. There is a Starfleet outpost not far from here."

"Wait," Kirk called as Spock stood, "Where you came from…did I know my father?"

"Yes. You often spoke of him as being your inspiration for joining Starfleet. He proudly lived to see you become Captain of the Enterprise."

"Captain?" Kirk whispered.

"A ship we must return you both to as soon as possible," Spock turned to gather his things.

Victoria looked down a moment, thinking, "What?" Kirk asked, seeing her expression.

"What, what?" she glanced at him.

"I know that face," he nudged her, "You're thinking."

"It's just…" she let out a breath, "That's why…isn't it?"

"Why…what?" he frowned, not following.

"Why we aren't married," she glanced at him before looking away, a faint pink tint to her cheeks.

"What is?"

"Your father," she swallowed, "In that other universe…he was there, he raised you, he influenced you, kept you under control and…" she shook her head, "You had a life, grew up different, had a different personality for having him there for your entire life," she looked at him, "You were a different man in that universe, than you are in this one."

"Yeah," he nodded, looking away this time, it…hurt…it actually HURT to think that the other him was married to her while this him could barely have a decent conversation that didn't involve bickering.

"I'm glad your different," she added quietly, making him look at her sharply, "Because I'M different too," she reasoned, "My dad…the Kelvin affected the entire Fleet," she explained, "He…became obsessed with the Fleet, he spent…years researching it, trying to work out what happened, so that he could help devise a way to protect the other ships from it happening to them. My mom started to get annoyed with it, felt like he was pulling himself away from her and to the Fleet even more. To him the Fleet was family and the Kelvin was the epitome of what it should be, a captain willing to give his life for his crew," she swallowed hard, "His focus on that was what started to drive my mother away," she shrugged, "I'm a different girl than I would have been if he'd focused on his family more, if my mother had stayed. So…I'm glad you're different, that we're both different now because of the Kelvin…WE fit," she nodded to herself, "In a way the other versions of us wouldn't."

"We fit?" Kirk started to smile at that.

She glanced at him and looked away.

"Don't do that," he shook his head, reaching out to turn her head back to him, "Don't be embarrassed…"

"I'm not."

"You are."

"Prove it."

"Your expression says it all," he smirked, "That's your 'I've said something I didn't mean to let on about' face."

"Why do you know that?" she had to ask him, "Why do you know all my different expressions?"

He looked at her a long moment, staring into her eyes, "Because you're right," he nodded, "We DO fit," and leaned in to press his lips to hers before she could react or pull away or slap him…letting out the smallest breath of relief when she didn't do either of those things but just…kissed him back.

He felt himself smiling into the kiss, what do you know…their lips fit perfectly together too.

~8~

Spock led the way through the blizzard of Delta Vega, a small smile on his face…the Kirks were back on track as far as he could tell. It might not be the same relationship he'd seen his 'Jim and Tory' have, but…they were the same people at heart, and they had the same person in their heart. They might bicker and fight, but…these tow had lived different lives than the other thems, they were more passionate and more fiery, they fought but they were even more fiercely connected than even his version of them were. And they'd need that. He didn't know what their future would hold now, but…he could tell that it would be full of trials and challenges they'd need each other to face down.

He glanced back to see the two of them huddled close together as they fought against the storm, the three of them reaching the outpost just as the storm reached its peak. He pulled open a door and ushered them in, slamming it shut behind them. They pulled their hoods and scarves down, panting a moment before heading down the hall…only to see a small alien creature rushing towards them, gabbling in an alien language.

"Hello," Kirk nodded at him.

The alien just turned and gestured them on, leading them through the outpost to a control room where a man with red hair was sitting at a desk. The alien walked right over to him, getting his attention, "What?" the man snapped at the alien, a Scottish accent to him, before he turned to see the three of them standing there, "You realize how unacceptable this is?"

"Fascinating," Spock breathed.

"What is?" Victoria glanced at him.

But the Scotsman just continued, "Yeah, I'm sure you're just doing your job, but could you not come a wee bit sooner? Six months I've been here, living off Starfleet protein nibs and a promise of a good meal. And I know _exactly _what's going on here, ok. Punishment, isn't it? Ongoing, for something that was _clearly_ an accident."

"You are Montgomery Scott," Spock stated.

"You know him?" Kirk frowned.

"Aye, that's me," the man spoke, "You're in the right place. Unless there's another hard-working, equally starved Starfleet officer around."

"Me!" the little alien held up his hand.

"Keenser, shut up!" he rolled his eyes, "You don't eat anything. You can eat like a bean, and you're done. I'm talking about food. Real food. But, you're here now, so thank you. Where is it?"

"You are, in fact, the Mr. Scott who postulated the theory of transwarp beaming?" Spock looked at the man.

"That's what I'm talking about," he sighed, "How'd you think I wound up here? I had a little debate with my instructor on the issue of relativistic physics and how it pertains to subspace travel. He seemed to think that the range of transporting something like a…like a grapefruit, was limited to about a hundred miles. I told him that I could not only beam a grapefruit from one planet to the adjacent planet in the same system, which is easy by the way, I could do it with a lifeform…"

"And then you tested it on Admiral Archer's prized beagle," Victoria smirked.

He looked at her, pleased at that, "You've heard of me Lassie?"

"Oh yeah," she laughed, "My dad didn't stop laughing for hours when he told me about that. VERY impressive work Mr. Scott."

"Scotty, please," he winked at her, "Call me Scotty."

"Call me Tory," she agreed.

"Short for Victoria?" he guessed.

"Yeah."

"Lovely name for a lovely lass."

"Yeah," Kirk cut in, his eyes narrowed at the man, "We get it, she's gorgeous, tell me something I don't already know."

"Boyfriend?" Scotty just looked at Victoria and pointed at Kirk.

"Apparently husband," she muttered, Kirk grinning widely as he saw her blushing for good measure…husband…it was WAY too early to think about that, but…one day, maybe, if the other thems could make it as long as Spock knew them, it had to be a good omen right?

"Well congrats to the newlyweds," Scotty shrugged, not at all disappointed the girl was taken, "Always the good ones, eh?"

"Always the BEST ones," Kirk countered.

Victoria nudged him to get him to stop, "The one thing dad didn't know…" she looked at Scotty, "What happened to the dog?"

"I'll tell you when it reappears," Scotty smirked, "I don't know. I _do_ feel guilty about that."

Spock chuckled a bit, but…they really DID have to get back on task, "What if I told you that your transwarp theory was correct? That it is indeed possible to beam onto a ship that is travelling at warp speed?"

"I think if that equation had been discovered, I'd have heard about it," Scotty scoffed.

"The reason you haven't heard about it, Mr. Scott, is because you haven't discovered it yet."

Scotty frowned at that, "I'm a…uh, what...are you from the future?"

"Yeah…he is," Kirk pointed at Spock, before gesturing between him and Victoria, "We're not."

"Well that's brilliant. Do they still have sandwiches there?"

"No," Victoria remarked sarcastically, "They have small capsules that you eat that taste and fill you like a sandwich."

"That's brilliant!"

"That's not true either," Spock added.

"Oh," he frowned.

"Mr. Scott," Spock looked at him, "If you would be so kind as to show us your transporter, I'd be more than happy to assist you in the discovery of your formula."

Scotty gave him a look for a moment, before shrugging, "Why not?" and got up, leading them over to the small transporter area, looking rather crude and not at all as technologically advanced as on the Enterprise, "Well, she's a wee bit dodgy," he nodded, seeing their looks, "Shield emitters are totally bandjacked, as well as a few other things. In you go," he gestured for them to get on the pads, "So, the Enterprise has had its maiden voyage, has it? She is one well endowed lady. I'd like to get my hands on her ample nacelles, if you'll pardon the engineering parlance."

"Not at all," Victoria laughed, "You wouldn't believe how many engineering jokes are lost on James."

"Ooh, you're in engineering too Lassie?" Scotty smirked at her, before laughing as he patted Kirk's shoulder, "Better keep a firm hold on this one Laddie, else I might be tempted to steal such a fine lady away from you."

"As though you could," Kirk muttered as Scotty moved to Spock as the man typed something into a control, "I'm not about to ever let her go," he glanced at Victoria and took her hand, making her smile.

"Who would have thought THAT would happen?" she remarked, "We couldn't stand to be near each other at first."

"That was only because I was terrified I'd throw you against a wall halfway through our fights," Kirk admitted.

"And do what?" she sent him a teasing smirk.

"I think you know what."

She shrugged, "Probably nothing like I imagined doing to you in the storage closets."

She laughed heartily as Kirk choked on the air he was breathing, before he gave her a dangerous grin, "Careful Victoria," he warned, "Don't start anything you can't finish."

Her smirk deepened, "Challenge accepted James."

Kirk started to smile at that as he looked at her, when he saw Spock walking towards them, and cleared his throat, "You're coming with us, right?"

"No, Jim," Spock shook his head, "That is not my destiny."

"Your dest..." he looked at Victoria, "He…" and back to Spock, "The other Spock is _not_ going to believe either of us. Only you can explain what's gonna happen."

"Under no circumstances, can he be aware of my existence. You must promise me this," Spock looked at the two of them.

"You mean we can't tell you that we're back on the Enterprise because you ordered us back?" Victoria shook her head, "How does that make any sense?"

"Please," Spock sighed, "This is one rule you cannot break. Jim," he looked at the man, "To stop Nero, you alone must take command of your ship."

"How?" Kirk shook his head, "Over your dead body?"

"You are surprisingly HARD to kill," Victoria remarked, making all the men there look at her, "If I couldn't knock you out with a punch that's knocked out bigger men than you…I doubt we'd be able to kill you by normal human means as well."

"I would prefer you not attempt to end my life," Spock chuckled, "However, I believe Tory is aware of a Starfleet regulation that might help?" he looked at her, "619?"

"And what's that?" Kirk looked at her to see her blinking. She always knew the rules and regulations by heart, according to her it was to know the loopholes and be able to argue their cases. Half the time she'd list other rules and regulations that justified the things they did so quickly that others had no time to double check them. It made those trying them feel like she had to know the rules well enough that she couldn't have knowingly broken them…

"619 states that any command officer who's emotionally compromised by a mission has to resign their command."

"So…so you're saying that we have to emotionally compromise you guys?" Kirk looked at Spock.

"Jim," he swallowed, "I just lost my planet. I can tell you, I _am_ emotionally compromised. What you must do is get me to show it."

"Aye then, Laddie," Scotty joined them, getting on a transporter pad with them, "Live or die, let's get this over with," he rolled his eyes as Keenser tried to join them, pushing the wee lad back a bit, "You cannae come with me," he glanced at Spock, "Go on."

"You're coming back in time, changing history," Kirk looked at Spock as well, "It's cheating."

Spock smiled, "A trick I learned from two very good friends," he held up his hand at them, his fingers spaced to make a V-sign, his pointer and middle finger to one side, ring and pinky to the other, a Vulcan salute, "Live long and prosper," he nodded at them before hitting the controls and transporting them out and back to the Enterprise.

A/N: They kissed! ^-^ :D Yay! :) But...it wasn't their first kiss ;) We'll see that one tomorrow }:)

Some notes on reviews...

Oh Prime let a few things slip ;)

Yup, fear of fire :( Poor Victoria getting caught there like that :(

We'll find out who her father is very, very soon ;)

Aww thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying the stories so far :) I've got two 'sequels' to WWTW planned, one where the 11s meet, all in the same incarnatoin, and the second being where they meet with all their children, so we'd see both at one point or another :)


	8. Kiss and Tell

Kiss and Tell

_1 year ago..._

Bones was supposed to be having a good time. That was the point of dragging him out of his dorm room and into the only club within walking distance of the Academy. It was the anniversary of his divorce and he, being a grumpy son-of-a-gun most of the time, was worse today. So, of course, Kirk's idea of the perfect way to resolve that was to get the man as drunk as possible till he started singing sea shanties and thinking he was a cowboy…

Neither Uhura nor Victoria were sure what Kirk meant by that or that it was possible to get Bones THAT drunk. But there they were, going to the club with Kirk and Bones, if just to try and keep the men in line. Bones they didn't think they had to worry about, the man tended to just nurse a drink or two all night in a brooding way. Kirk was the one they were really going for, they had to make sure he didn't get kicked out of the Academy for getting plastered and starting a fight…which admittedly seemed to be his habit when drunk. Uhura had actually been surprised at how adamant Victoria had been in insisting they go with the boys as 'support' for Bones and chaperones for Kirk, emphasis on watching Kirk. Victoria had just defended that in saying that if Kirk was expelled…her only source of amusement would be gone.

Uhura was sure THAT was the reason for it. Still, it had been amusing for HER to see Kirk's reaction to them not in Cadet uniforms. It was…weird, to think that, the typical uniforms usually left little to the imagination, even less when they were members of an actual ship. She'd actually tried to launch a petition to make the women's uniforms less about dresses and more about pants…or at the very least, make the skirts longer. It was ridiculously hard to run in such a short skirt without fear of the back flying up as you went. Though she had to admit, Victoria did have one point in actually defending the uniforms. If they ever faced some sort of enemy chasing them, all they had to do was run faster than at least one man and they'd be safe…because the man would be so distracted by the woman in front of him and be easily caught…which would serve him right for looking and being that distracted in the first place.

Victoria had a weird mind, though she was sure it was more the amount of pleasure she got in seeing Kirk stumbling as they ran, when the boy would chase her because she stole an apple from him or plucked a book out of his hand or something. They were both weird, now that she thought about it. She honestly had no idea what had happened between the two of them that they were suddenly talking more than shouting, plotting together with heads bowed than trying to get back at each other, teaming up against those who harassed and annoyed them than taking those threats on alone and dragging the other into it. She'd thought they hated each other, but one particular detainment a year ago and they were almost…friends.

That was an odd thought, Victoria and Kirk friends. She'd asked Victoria about it once or twice and she insisted they were just at a truce, that they'd formed a sort of alliance, were partners and that was it. She'd HAD to remark that partners could mean quite a few things and gave Victoria a teasing look. She'd laughed for hours after at watching her friend stuttering and going on a rant about how she and James T. Kirk would NEVER work. It amused her more because there were little crumbs of actual compliments in her rant. She's shout about how he was still arrogant and brilliant and cocky, or how he was crude, suggestive, charming, and vulgar at the same time, and finishing that he was a slob/mess/handsome/such a boy! She'd laughed so hard because Victoria hadn't even realized what she'd said even after she'd finished her rather long winded rant. It had only made her more sure that Victoria actually DID like Kirk…she was just swimming in a certain river in Egypt at the moment though.

But it had given her a new perspective when she watched them, she saw the way they looked at each other, how Kirk would stare at her. And she hadn't been disappointed at his reaction to the two of them (Victoria more) in their more causal clothing. Victoria's entire idea of casual and non-uniform meant not getting into her uniform at all and just lounging around in her pajamas whenever she could help it. If she didn't have to leave the room, she stayed in her pajamas and robe. Kirk had seen her like that various times. It actually shocked her a few times to see the two of them on weekends and other off days.

She'd gone to hang out with Victoria in her room once or twice and found the girl flopped on her back on her bed, half hanging off it, her head would have been hanging off the side upside down if not for Kirk sitting on the floor beside the bed, allowing Victoria to rest her head on his shoulder as they either read or worked on a project. Victoria's roommate was hardly ever in the room so she didn't have a problem with Kirk being there more often then he probably should have been. One time though, she'd spent the night in Victoria's room, Victoria's roommate off on a retreat somewhere, and her own roommate doing…things she did NOT want to hear…in her own room so she'd gone to a sort of 'sleepover' with Victoria. She'd nearly screamed when, at the crack of dawn, the door had opened and Kirk had been there…wrapped in a blanket. She'd always been a light sleeper and had rolled over to see what the clicking/sliding noise was and seen Kirk there with a keycard of his own…apparently Victoria had managed to hack into the systems (again) and made him a secondary card into the room (something she STILL was trying to work out why she'd done). She'd opened her mouth to scream at him to get out when Victoria turned over on her bed and mumbled for him to shut the door because he was letting in the light from the halls.

She'd been shocked that Victoria had been expecting him (this being before she'd learned that Victoria had made him the keycard and he hadn't just randomly broken in). But Kirk just shuffled in, yawning, looking about half asleep still, and made his way to Victoria's bed. She'd watched in confusion as he just sort of reached the side of it and toppled over onto it, the blanket still wrapped around him like a cocoon, Victoria not even shuffling over so he could fit more, she tended to sleep on the edges of the bed for some reason. And then…like nothing out of the ordinary had happened…they'd just fallen back asleep, leaving her awake and blinking at them before slowly laying down and (try) falling asleep again.

She'd later learned that it was something Kirk apparently did every other Saturday for the last few months. Bones had a ridiculously early class on Saturdays for the medical students, him being cursed with the focus profession that required one of the most classes with one occurring at least once every single day. Bones would, however, take nearly an hour to get ready, setting his alarm to repeatedly go off every five minutes as he struggled to wake up and stay awake, before half-crashing through the room in a bleary haze of sleep to try and get ready. Kirk had learned after the first Saturday class that all the noise would just wake him up and he ended up just ambling out of the room and lying down in the nearest lounge, still in his blanket. He didn't mind waking up as the other Cadets started to wake and pass the lounge and see him there. He hardly ever cared what people said, but he DID care that his back and neck were a mess from sleeping on those god awful chairs and couches.

Victoria had apparently invited Kirk to crash in her room whenever Bones had classes like that, so he'd just shuffle through the halls to her room and fall asleep on her bed. Both of them would just sleep though, till they woke up and would just sort of grunt at each other in Caveman or some other language till they were fully awake and had their caffeine. She'd wished Victoria had warned her about that event though, Kirk had nearly given her a heart attack.

But that wasn't the point of her thoughts, no, it was more recalling that Kirk had seen Victoria, and her as well, at their most informal, in their nightclothes and pajamas, their hair a mess, without makeup or anything, not that either of them wore much of that. And yet…he'd been completely stunned silent (imagine that, James T. Kirk, actually SILENT) when he saw them step out of her room, Gaila already off seducing some other poor soul or something. She was sure he wasn't staring at Her because her outfit was actually very similar to the Fleet uniforms. She was wearing deep red dress that was long sleeved, but with the shoulder portions missing along with two sort of curved strips missing from the bodice of it. One was curved just under her bust, the other across her stomach on the other side. Her dress was just a little tighter in the skirt area than the Fleet uniforms though but her boots were very similar to the Fleet's, just with more of a heel. So she was sure it wasn't HER Kirk had been staring open mouthed at, but Victoria.

The girl had pulled her hair up into a loose, but high ponytail, a few strands hanging to frame her face. Her dress was very simple, blue one. It was a halter type dress, but instead of being a top that had two strips that tied behind her neck, it was more like a long solid cloth that had a loop at the end to go around her neck. It was very fitted to her upper body, but flowed out around her hips, the skirt going to her mid thigh, just a little longer than the Fleet's. She had her black flats on though. Kirk had just…stared, gaped really. It actually made HER smile to see it, to see him so taken with Victoria even with her wearing what was still considered to be a very modest dress despite being open backed.

Both fortunately and unfortunately (fortunately in that the next action amused her but unfortunate in that it stopped Kirk's gaping), Bones had rolled his eyes and punched Kirk in the shoulder to get him to knock it off, and they'd headed off for the club. Kirk seemed determined to see Bones leave the small club with some sort of woman, any woman, even the Gorn in the corner of the club that Bones insisted was pregnant and, as such, he'd be eaten alive by its mate for trying to even approach it.

Bones…still wasn't having a good time, despite Kirk's best efforts. The man seemed content to just sit there at their table, with the same firm expression on his face, sipping from his glass every so often. Kirk, surprisingly enough, WASN'T completely drunk yet, but they could tell he was starting to get buzzed. It seemed he was actually trying to make an effort to remain somewhat sober for Bones, how else would he be able to point out the actually attractive women instead of what his drunken haze made them appear to be? It was a nice change for the girls though, because it meant they could actually sit there and enjoy themselves without having to worry about a bar brawl breaking out because of Kirk.

Though, as much as they were excited and hopeful for that, for a peaceful and enjoyable night…that was NOT the direction it seemed to be going for Victoria. One of the other Cadets, one of the more senior ones, hadn't left her alone all night.

Kirk was highly amused to watch her actually start to squirm under the man's constant attention. Literally. He sat there with his elbow on the table, his arm bent so his head could rest on his hand, his other arm resting across the table as he just…watched the goings-on the most interested and focused Uhura had ever seen him. She'd have thought he was enjoying it actually, to see Victoria constantly turning the man down and him still not getting the hint. She wasn't sure though if it was because Victoria was turning the man down repeatedly and he was pleased she wasn't interested. Or if it was because the man was clearly irritating her like Kirk so often had and he was just happy that she wasn't turning her irritation and anger on HIM for once. Bones though just rolled his eyes, because…he knew it was neither.

He could see it in Kirk's face, in his expression how NOT pleased he was with the situation, both that the man was 'hitting on' Victoria but also that Victoria hadn't managed to get the man to leave her alone. Oh she'd tried, she'd tried everything short of breaking the beer bottle he was nursing over the man's head and punching him out cold. But he knew why she wasn't doing anything. He recognized the senior Cadet, the son of one of the heads of the Fleet, a pompous arrogant little ass who thought he could get away with murder because of who his father was. He hated people like that, people who used their father's and mother's names to get ahead. Hell, he knew everyone knew who Kirk's father was, but Kirk did everything in his own name, he didn't ever use his father to garner sympathy or support, he flat out refused it at times if that was the reason behind it. But that little twerp…he knew Victoria couldn't risk actively attacking the man, no matter how much he could see that she wanted to.

He may not be able to read her expressions as well as Kirk could, but all of them could tell she was steadily reaching the point of violence if the man didn't let up and go away.

"I'm gonna get another round," Kirk cut in, slapping the table lightly as he got up, "The usuals?" he looked around the table, the three of them nodding for their regular drinks as he headed off.

"So…" the man reappeared, moving to push himself between Victoria and Uhura as he leaned on the table to look at Victoria, nearly knocking Uhura off her seat as she rolled her eyes at the irritating boy, "Have you considered my…proposition?" he grinned, having asked her to join him for a drink.

She'd countered with a near-sneering, 'can I have a minute to think about it?' which the man had taken literally. Truly he had, they'd seen him standing at his table with his friends, smirking at her as he timed the minute out on his watch.

Victoria's jaw tensed and she took a deep breath, counting backwards to ten…something she wasn't sure why everyone insisted angry people do as it did NOTHING to help, before she turned to him, "I can't."

"And why's that?" he leaned even closer to her, forcing Victoria to lean back, "Are you intimidated by my pals?" he glanced at his friends, all watching them, "We can go to another table," he winked, "Just the two of us…"

Victoria looked down as the boy reached out and gently started to, for some reason unknown to her, walk his index and middle finger up her arm. She pulled her arm away and said the first thing she could think of that would, hopefully, get him to actually leave her alone, "I've got a boyfriend."

The man blinked, "Right."

"I do," she insisted, hearing a disbelieving and scoffing tone in his word.

"Who? Colonel Custard over there?" he nodded at Bones.

"No," she said, almost so instantly that Bones almost felt offended she hadn't thought to use him as a 'faux beau' to drive the man away, "Um…" she glanced over, seeing Kirk returning, "Him."

"Me what?" Kirk frowned, setting down the drinks.

"Yeah, right," the man laughed at that, "He's been sitting there watching me seduce you all night. What sort of idiot would let someone do that to their girlfriend?"

"Girl…" Kirk began to ask, only to see Bones giving him a firm and meaningful…almost threatening look, "Right…" he nodded, realizing what had happened.

"If you must know," Victoria sent the man a near sneering look, "James has a genius-level intellect."

"All I hear is he's overcompensating," the man shot Kirk a distasteful look.

Kirk raised an eyebrow and glanced at Bones and Uhura, "Is he being serious?" that was just…the most laughable thing he'd ever heard.

"Well it would take one to know one," Victoria countered with an 'innocent' smile, "What are YOU overcompensating for?"

The man's jaw tensed as he realized he was being insulted, "Nothing actually," he fired back, "And if you'd like…I can show you that."

"Alright, enough harassing my girlfriend," Kirk cut in, "She was trying to let you off easy buddy, just give it up."

"She's not your girlfriend," the man scoffed, "Trust me, I know what THAT looks like," it was the reason he'd targeted her, he could tell from the way the other girl was sitting that she was taken, but this one…she was free as a bird, "And it's NOT you two."

"Oh really?" Victoria gave him a look, "What, you want proof?"

"Yes," he said, without a moment's hesitation, clearly not thinking there was a thing either of them could do to prove themselves in a relationship.

Victoria just stared him down a moment, before shaking her head and getting up, turning around to where Kirk was sitting next to her and grabbing his face…before she slanted her lips over his, kissing him deeply. Bones managed to hide his snort at seeing Kirk nearly fall off the back of his stool at the sudden force of the kiss behind his bottle, Uhura just…staring at them, especially when, after a moment, Kirk moved an arm around Victoria, lifting his other hand to her cheek as he seemed to return the kiss with vigor.

Which seemed to be just what the jerk needed to see because he cursed under his breath and turned to stalk off, grumbling along the way.

Bones and Uhura watched him go a moment, waiting till he'd gotten back to his friends, the lot of them turning their backs on the table to look elsewhere in the club, before turning back to Kirk and Victoria…only to see they were STILL kissing.

"Um…guys?" Uhura called, seeing Victoria step closer to Kirk as he tugged her nearer, squeezing her with his arm around her.

"He's gone," Bones added, watching them curiously as Victoria moved her one hand behind his head to play with the hair at the nape of his neck, Kirk's other hand seeming to mimic the move, getting tangled in Victoria's hair as well, "He walked away…"

"Guys!" Uhura slammed her hand on the table, making them jump apart, panting a little.

"Are you done now?" Bones rolled his eyes at them.

Victoria blinked, "I was waiting till I was sure he walked away."

"That was 30 seconds ago," Bones remarked.

"Well his friends were watching!" she defended, though they could see a faint blush on her cheek…Kirk though, seemed oblivious as he just…stared at her, his eyes wide, his mouth open, still breathing rather harshly at what had just happened, "If we stopped just because he turned his back he'd know we were faking."

"Right, faking," Uhura teased.

Victoria rolled her eyes this time, "I need a stronger drink after that," she muttered, turning to go, only to see Kirk still blinking at her. She shifted a moment, before patting his head, "Good job," and heading off to the bar.

"Jim?" Bones called after a minute of Kirk turning in his seat to watch her go, well, more like turning his head as far as it could go before realizing his stool turned as well and moving his body to follow, "Everything alright?"

"Um…" Kirk blinked rapidly, "Yeah…fine…good…"

"Are you sure?" Uhura stared at him, a little concerned, he didn't sound at all like he'd heard a word Bones had said, "You look a little um…shocked?"

"Yeah…fine…good," was all Kirk could repeat, leaving the two others to glance at each other, "I'll uh…" he shook his head, "Be back…" he murmured, getting up and heading into the crowd the same direction Victoria had gone in.

"Never thought I'd see the day," Bones muttered as he took a swig of his beer.

"What?" Uhura looked at him.

"I think Tory broke him," he smirked, making Uhura laugh, Kirk DID seem quite out of it.

Bones let out a little sigh though after he swallowed his beer. He…knew what Kirk was like. He knew what his friend would get into with the ladies…the many lady Cadets. If he wasn't flirting with them he was having a 'make out' session with them, if he wasn't doing that, he was having a meaningless fling. It was different with Uhura and Victoria though, Uhura more because, despite his best efforts, she remained closed off from responding to him, even jokingly, in his advances. She became more like the person he'd tease whenever he just wanted to irritate her.

Victoria though…he could tell she intrigued Kirk, the way she fired back at him, countered him, contradicted and argued with him…yet still was willing to get in trouble with him. Half the things Kirk had gotten into the last year was something Victoria had had a hand in starting. He had sort of just given up on it, though he had to admit both he and Victoria shared the same exasperation when it came to KIRK being the one responsible for things. HIS actions and plans were the ones that tended to get them caught. But…the fact that Victoria was always right there at his side despite that…the way she acted and held herself and just…so many other things about her, he knew that she captivated Kirk.

He was just afraid that this would be a turning point for them. They'd always had a bickering relationship. First it was more like a love/hate thing, always at each other's throats. Then it grew to a mutual respect, a more lighthearted bickering, a more amusing set of shouting matches that were more just loud discussions than angry retorts. They had just…formed a friendship, if he had to call it that. And this…this might change all that. He couldn't be sure, he didn't know Kirk THAT well as to know what the man felt deep down, he tended to keep the really important and personal things close to his chest, but…he sort of felt like Kirk only saw Victoria as a sort of…partner in crime. He could be wrong, Kirk could be completely head over heels for her and he wouldn't have the first clue, he tended to stay away from relationships since his ex-wife's and his crashed and burned. If Kirk DIDN'T feel that way for Victoria…he just might now.

That kiss…HE'D nearly blushed at just WATCHING it. HIM! And he just…he worried for Victoria, she was…annoyingly interesting in a sort of 'sister he never wanted' sort of way. He always felt protective of her, but she always proved able to handle herself so he'd never worried. But this was different, because SHE was different around Kirk than she was others. And he was truly concerned that she wouldn't be able to keep going the way she was and handle Kirk the way she did other men. He didn't want Kirk to take advantage of the girl's friendship with him, to take advantage of her himself and just…make another notch in his bedpost.

He doubted Kirk would do that to the girl but…in a sort of 'unwilling big brother' way, he had to worry about it.

He glanced back as he took another gulp of his beer, able to see Kirk and Victoria through the crowd, vaguely though, as they spoke in the back by the bar. He sighed, turning back to Uhura, hoping that things wouldn't get awkward now. He'd had to deal with the obvious affection and connection the two had, they really DID act like an old married couple even if they both denied feelings for the other…he couldn't begin to imagine what it would be like if the two suddenly ended up tiptoeing around each other and getting all stuttering and awkward.

~8~

"Victoria!" Kirk called as he pushed his way through the crowd.

"What?" she looked over from having given her order, "Did you or the others want another drink?"

"No um…" he swallowed, looking around, "Can we talk?"

"About what?" she frowned, shocking him with how easily she was acting like nothing had happened.

"About the big wet one you just laid on me."

"Please," she scoffed, "It was hardly wet, I DO try to keep the slobber to a minimum."

"But you admit it was BIG," he countered, "Look…please?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes, gesturing to the bartender that she was just stepping away for a moment and to hold her drink as the alien behind the bar nodded and she headed over a few feet away with Kirk, "What about it?"

"You kissed me."

"Yes…and?"

"And…YOU kissed me."

"I got that, thanks."

"YOU _kissed_ ME."

"James if you're just going to repeat that over and over again, can I go get my drink first?" she deadpanned, "This will be less painful that way."

He shook his head, "I mean…why?"

"Because you were there?" she gave him an odd look, "I don't understand why you're freaking out about this, you've kissed tons of girls and it never meant anything with them. Why now?"

"So it…it DIDN'T mean anything?" he blinked, before forcing himself to let out what he hoped was a relieved breath…trying to ignore how that actually stung a bit to hear her imply that.

"Oh it meant something alright," she nodded, waiting till he looked at her, startled, before adding, "It means I owe you one," she nudged him, "So if you're ever hit on by a girl you REALLY don't want to be around, feel free to call me your girlfriend."

"Right," this time it was HIS turn to scoff, "As though I'd ever turn down female attention."

She blinked at him, "So if that Gorn over there…"

"Ok, ok," he cut in, "Fine, if I'm ever in need of a fake girlfriend, you'll be the first one I call," he poked her, "So you'd better come running and not complain."

"When do I NOT come running when you need me?" she rolled her eyes at that, before taking a breath, "But really James…thank you for going along with it."

"Why DID you pick ME to do it though?" he frowned, "Bones was right there."

She grimaced, "And he's like my brother," she shivered in disgust, "That's just wrong."

Kirk let out a mock-sigh, "And here I was, hoping it was because I was the better kisser and you wanted a good experience for the night."

She snorted at that, "Oh yes, because your kissing is SO exceptional," she countered sarcastically, "Really just absolutely phenomenal, makes me warm all over, just…outstanding!" she couldn't help but feel like she was getting a bit too heavy on the sarcasm though…it was just…

She couldn't let on just how true that all was, to her at least.

That had been…quite the experience, kissing him.

"Like you were so much better with your hair teasing and your grabbing my shirt and you bit my lip!" he poked her again, though he hoped she didn't see how hard he'd swallowed at that, he loved it when girls did that mid-kiss.

"Well then, we've learned we're both remarkably skilled kissers," she stated.

"And that you owe me one," he added.

She shook her head, "Anything else, or are we good?"

Kirk paused, putting a finger to his chin as though in thought, before shrugging, "We're good."

She nodded and turned to go back to the bar for her drink, watching out of the corner of her eye as Kirk headed back to the table, before taking the shot the bartender handed her and throwing it back, hoping she might make herself drunk enough that she could wake up later and convince herself that the entire kiss had just been a very, VERY drunk moment…despite knowing she wasn't even buzzed at the moment. She let out a sigh and ran a hand down her face, this was…not good at all. She could admit…she…HAD wondered, once or twice, what it might be like to kiss him…and now that she knew…she closed her eyes and groaned. What had she just gotten herself into?

But luckily (or unluckily, depending how one looked at the situation...she wasn't quite sure she'd ever know which it was), her thoughts and attempts at getting drunk were cut off when the Gorn in the corner went into labor...

A/N: Lol, the Gorn :) I hope you enjoyed this little treat, a little more of a look as to just when the 'friendship' turned into a noticable affection ;) I can't believe this story will be over in just two days! O.O Oh wow! :)

Some notes on reviews...

Yup a Sherlock Holmes and Firefly reference in the same chapter ;)

I'm glad you're enjoying the stories so far and they're able to help you stay on the site a bit ^-^

Oh they HAD to be married ;) ...I'm sort of tempted to write a one-shot of just how 'sickeningly sweet' the Prime Kirk and Victoria are to compare to how they are now lol :)

That's a great video, thanks! :)

Oh Kirk's reaction will be...quite funny :) And Scotty will be...someone who will continue to make the confident Kirk rather jealous }:) Yup, Into Darkness right after this one, but there may be a day gap in between though :) I'm glad you're excited for all the future stories! I can't wait to get them out too ^-^ And thank YOU for being such an awesome reader ;)


	9. Regime Change

Regime Change

Kirk nearly stumbled back as Victoria tripped against him, both of them unsteady from the sudden shift in transport without a proper pad to balance them…not to mention that they'd just transported onto a ship mid-warp, it was enough to knock anyone on their backside, but luckily Kirk had been there to catch her.

"Honestly," he rolled his eyes playfully, "Always falling for me huh?"

"More like falling ON you," she countered, pushing herself off him to stand on her own, before noticing something, "Where's Scotty?"

Kirk nearly rolled his eyes again at that before seeing that she was right, Scotty WASN'T there, "Mr. Scott!" he called out. There was a soft banging noise from somewhere but they still didn't see him, "Mr. Scott can you hear us?!"

They both froze, hearing something like a pounding behind them and turned to see Scotty trapped in one of the large coolant pipes distributing water. The poor man was banging his fists against the glass, trying to get out, holding his breath.

"Uh..." Kirk blinked, "Uh…hold on a second!" he looked around, but Scotty was sucked further down the pipe.

"No!" Victoria took off running upon seeing that.

"What?" Kirk ran after her.

"James I'm in engineering!" she called back to him, "I know the ship's internal systems, and that pipe…it leads to the turbine!"

Kirk nearly stopped running at that, but kept going, looking back over his shoulder to see Scotty being pulled through the current, his gaze rushing ahead of the pipe to see…a giant, spinning turbine, just like Victoria said.

"What do we do?" he looked back at her.

"I've got it covered," she ran right of one of the control computers, quickly inputting a command, and looking up as a loud buzz went off.

"Turbine release valve activated," a computerized voice announced and suddenly one of the panels only feet away from the turbine opened, releasing Scotty and a splash of water, before closing quickly again.

"You alright?" Kirk ran for the man, but Scotty wasn't moving, "Mr. Scott!"

"Scotty!" Victoria ran to his side as well, the two of them turning the man over, but he wasn't breathing. Victoria quickly looked at Kirk, "CPR! Now!"

Kirk nodded and clasped his hands together in the proper position, before doing compressions on Scotty, counting to five before nodding at Victoria, who took a breath and leaned in, tilting Scotty's head back and pinching his nose, breathing into his mouth…

It surprised them both how quickly Scotty coughed up the water and rolled on his side, "You alright?" Kirk asked, patting the man on the back as he helped him sit up.

"My heads buzzing," Scotty coughed a little more, "And I'm soaked, and now my ribs hurt…but otherwise I'm fine!" he glanced at Victoria and gave her a cheeky grin, "Got a wee kiss from a beautiful Lass to make up for that though."

Victoria blinked a moment, frowning, "Were you…faking?!"

Scotty grinned slyly at that, "Maybe…" he answered slowly, "How else would I win a kiss from a fair maiden."

Victoria raised an eyebrow at that, "Why settle for one then?" she crossed her arms, he could have kept pretending to be dead, she'd have to have kept giving him mouth-to-mouth as Kirk did the compressions.

"Like I'd risk anymore on Mr. Chiseled Chin over there," he nodded back at Kirk who was now glaring at the man, "No hard feelings Laddie," Scotty grinned, "You'd best expect quite a few men to want to steal a kiss from a girl like her."

Kirk's eyes narrowed as Scotty picked himself up, whistling impressed as he looked around the room.

Victoria watched Kirk a moment, feeling a sort of warmth spread through her at his expression…he looked like he wanted to drown Scotty for real, "Come on," she reached out to take Kirk's hand, both using it as leverage to get up and also momentum to pull him up too, "We need to get to the Bridge."

"Ooh she's a beautiful ship," Scotty grinned, not at all perturbed with Kirk's glaring.

"We're in the coolant system, not the actual ship," Victoria reminded him.

"You can tell a lot about a ship from the minor components," he countered, "If this is just the coolant system…I cannae wait to see the rest of her!"

Kirk grumbled under his breath something about showing the man the airlock, when he looked down, feeling something in his hand…to see Victoria had taken his own in one of hers, "Stop it," she said quietly to him, "You're acting jealous."

"I'm not jealous."

"SO jealous."

"Of what? A shrimpy Scotsman?"

"Yes."

He rolled his eyes, "NOT jealous."

"Fine then," she shrugged, "You're not jealous."

"Good."

"You have no reason to be."

"No reason?" he looked at her sharply, "He kissed you! He said that others would try to steal kisses from you too!"

"And I've learned my lesson," she said dryly, "If anyone's drowning, YOU can be the one to kiss them next time. You know me James, have I ever let anyone get a kiss out of me?"

"You kissed me in the club," he reminded her with a roll of his eyes.

"Yeah," she laughed, this was…amusing her, very much so, to see the oh-so confident and cocky James T. Kirk actually bitter and cross that some other man had managed to trick a 'kiss' (which really wasn't one at all) out of her, "YOU," she poked him, "I kissed YOU," she sighed, wincing a little, "You're going to make me say it aren't you?"

"Say what?" he frowned.

She hesitated only a moment, not…used to this, "No matter if someone, in a very rare instance, manages to 'steal' a kiss from me…YOU are the only one I would GIVE a kiss to and have it mean something."

He blinked, starting to smile at that, before teasing, "So the kiss in the club…it DID mean something then?"

She smiled, "Oh it meant imagined murders for all the women you flirted with from that moment on."

He laughed at that, she said it jokingly but also with a serious tone to it, "It meant non-imagined punches to the precious faces of all the men who harassed you," he added.

"You two are just the sweetest things," Scotty spoke, cutting into their thoughts. They looked up to see him walking backwards, grinning at them, "Can I have an invite to the wedding? I love parties."

Kirk and Victoria looked at each other before laughing, recalling the future-Spock's words…knowing they were married in one reality…but nowhere NEAR it in this one. They had to make sure they could actually BE in a relationship without offing the other one first which…knowing their tempers…might actually happen.

~8~

The small trio was ushered onto the Bridge of the Enterprise to face Spock, having been caught halfway through engineering by a few other Cadets/security and 'escorted' away on Spock's command.

Spock turned, his eyes narrowing at Scotty, "Who are you?"

Kirk and Victoria could see security feeds up on the main monitor, of engineering, of the coolant room, clearly they'd been detected and observed on their quest when Spock ordered them captured.

"I'm with them," Scotty pointed at the two of them.

"He's with us," Victoria added, Spock giving her a momentary glance before focusing on Scotty once more.

"We're travelling at warp speed. How did you manage to beam aboard this ship?"

"You're the genius," Kirk cut in, "You figure it out."

Bones glanced at Victoria, frowning as he gave her a curious look, one she caught and returned with a small shake of the head. All it served to do was make Bones's frown deepen at seeing it. Normally she'd be hissing at Kirk to shut up or keep quiet or literally put her hand over his mouth to keep him from instigating a fight…but not this time. He really, REALLY hoped they both knew what they were doing in trying to provoke Spock to do something.

"As acting Captain of this vessel, I order you both to answer the question," Spock narrowed his eyes at them.

Victoria blinked, "You were standing there at our academic hearing," she reminded the Vulcan, "We're not exactly the epitome of taking orders."

"Yeah, we're not telling, Acting Captain," Kirk crossed his arms, "What di...what, now, that doesn't frustrate you, does it? Our lack of cooperation. That…that doesn't make you angry?"

Spock seemed near rolling his eyes before he looked at Scotty, "Are you a member of Starfleet?"

"I…um…yes?" Scotty shifted, as though able to sense something serious and tense going on, "Can I get a towel, please?"

"Under penalty of court martial, I order you to explain to me how you were able to beam aboard this ship while moving at warp."

"Well..."

"Don't you dare tell him Scotty," Victoria stepped up.

"You _will_ answer me."

"I'd rather not take sides," Scotty stepped back a little, trying to avoid the imminent confrontation.

"What is it with you, Spock?" Kirk looked at the Vulcan intently, "Hmm? Your planet was just destroyed, your mother murdered, and you're not even upset."

Victoria put a warning hand on Kirk's arm for that, she knew very well that the death of his father, even having not known him at all, hit him hard. They both knew that it would be infinitely harder for Spock to deal with the murder being so recent, right in front of him, and with him having known his mother his entire life…to bring that up now…it was going to have explosive consequences, they knew.

"If you're presuming that these experiences in any way impede my ability to command this ship, you are mistaken," Spock stated, though he stiffened at the words.

"How did you ever pass the Kobayashi Maru then?" Victoria wondered, "YOU created it to force a captain to feel fear, yet you claim to always be in control."

"You were the one who said fear was necessary for command," Kirk agreed, "Did you see his ship? Do you see what he did?"

"Yes, of course I did," Spock's eyes narrowed.

"So, are you afraid or aren't you?"

"I will not allow you to lecture me about the merits of emotion."

"Then why don't you stop me," Kirk took a step to him.

"Vick…" Bones called, trying to get her to stop him, but she held up her hand to quiet him.

"Step away from me, Mr..." Spock began.

"What is it like not to feel anger or heartbreak or the need to stop at nothing to avenge the death of the woman who gave birth to you?" Kirk glared at him.

"Back away from me..."

"You feel nothing! It must not even compute for you! You never loved her!"

"James!" Victoria gasped as, with a vicious cry, Spock lunged at Kirk, punching him across the face, viciously attacking him as Kirk tried and failed to defend himself.

"Vick no!" Bones rushed forward to grab her, pulling her back as he saw her injured hand bound tightly and knowing she'd try to punch Spock out again and probably REALLY break her hand (if it wasn't broken already).

"Bones let me go!" she struggled in his hold, but the man refused to let up, forcing her back and out of the way as Kirk and Spock fought, until Spock pinned Kirk against the helm console, trying to strangle him with one hand…

"Spock!" one of the older Vulcans, Spock's father, called.

Spock froze, seeming to come back to himself, before he released Kirk, the man panting as Victoria yanked herself out of Bones's hold and rushed over to Kirk, gently touching his neck as the man gasped for more air. Spock looked at her a moment, as though seeing her touching Kirk's neck had reminded him of what he'd just done. He stiffened and looked back behind him, observing the tense and shocked reactions of the crew.

Spock swallowed hard, "I am no longer fit for duty. I hereby relinquish my command, based on the fact that I have been emotionally compromised. Please note the time and date in the ship's log."

They all watched as the man turned and left the Bridge, his father following him.

"I like this ship!" Scotty said brightly, if just to cut the tension, "You know, it's exciting."

"You alright?" Victoria asked, touching Kirk's tender neck.

"That…is not something I'd like to experience again," he mumbled.

"I wouldn't think strangulation would be," she cracked wise.

"No I mean…yeah, that's bad," he nodded, glancing at her, "I just meant…I'd rather YOU make me breathless than that."

She blinked at that and started to smile, "Don't go getting all soft on me James," she poked his shoulder, "I'd rather bicker than be 'sickeningly sweet,'" she joked, making him grin.

"Oh that won't stop," he agreed, "I like fighting…" he gave her a suggestive look, "Means the most incredible make-up se…ow!" he winced as she flicked his ear.

"Congratulations, Jim," Bones cut in, really not sure if he wanted to know what had happened between the two of them just yet, maybe when this was all over, but for the moment there were better and more important things to deal with, "Now we've got no Captain and no goddamn first officer to replace him."

"We do," Victoria countered, smirking as she helped Kirk up, the man moving over to the Captain's chair.

"What?" Bones blinked, praying to every deity he could think of that this wasn't what he thought it was.

Sulu closed his eyes a moment, "Pike made him First Officer."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Thanks for the support," Kirk muttered sarcastically.

Uhura headed for the door to go after Spock, stopping to glance at Kirk a moment, "I sure hope you know what you're doing, Captain."

"So do I," he sighed.

"I can help, if you need it," Victoria offered, "My dad's been a captain of a few starships…" she swallowed hard, at that, looking away, now that the adrenaline was wearing off and they were actually GOING after Nero…she just…she was starting to get a little scared.

"Be my First Officer?" Kirk glanced at her.

"Just till Spock snaps out of it," she agreed, she really didn't want to be a captain or close to one, she really did prefer her strengths in engineering, acting as a liaison, but…for this, this mission needed them teamed up as much as possible, because it was Pike's life in danger if they failed. They both refused to believe the man was dead and they were fully intent to rescue him.

"Thanks," Kirk winked at her, before he turned and hit a button, opening the ship-wide comms., "Attention crew of the Enterprise, this is James Kirk. Mr. Spock has resigned commission and advanced me to Acting Captain. I know you were all expecting to regroup with fleet, but I'm ordering a pursuit course of the enemy ship to Earth. I want all departments at battle stations and ready in ten minutes. Either we're going down, or they are. Kirk out," he closed the comms. and sighed, rubbing his face, before he saw Victoria smiling at him, "What?"

"Nothing just…" she nodded at him, "The chair suits you."

"Well you know what suits both me and the chair?" before she could even answer, he reached out and grabbed her, pulling her onto his lap, winding his arms around her so she couldn't escape…not that he knew she'd want to.

Bones glanced over at one of the other Cadets, "You see it too right?" he whispered, half-afraid he'd finally lost it after being out in space so long, that he was imagining this scene before him…either that or the Vulcans had poisoned their water with some sort of hallucinogenic. But the Cadet nodded.

"What the hell happened to you two down there?" Bones stared at them.

"We got married," Kirk grinned, the two of them laughing as though sharing a private joke between them as Bones tried to work out if they were joking.

~8~

Victoria was standing with Scotty off to the side of the Bridge, showing him the Engineering liaison's command panel that would connect them to engineering, the two of them talking quietly, Scotty making jokes about some of the names for the different parts of a ship's 'engine' all the while the two of them pretended not to notice Kirk watching them like a hawk. Victoria had to smirk to herself, she knew what her being there, right next to Scotty, instead of him, was doing to the man. And she loved it. It was just like their entire relationship in a nutshell, they irritated each other, but it just meant they affected the other profoundly. And…if this happened to make Kirk a little more jealous, so be it. She was thinking she should take a leaf out of the sciences and do a little experiment, classify the different types of kisses Kirk could give when he felt different emotions and see how they ranked.

That would be…very fun.

Kirk took a breath, seeing Victoria glance back at him and knew she was doing this on purpose, hanging around Scotty, so he tried to not think about it and play right into her hand…she was crafty like that, always knew how to get under his skin. He turned back to the others he was speaking to, "Whatever the case, we need to get aboard Nero's ship undetected."

"And just go in there guns blazing, Jim?" Bones scoffed, "No..."

"I'm telling you," Sulu rolled his eyes, "The math doesn't support…"

"Captain Kork, Captain Kork!" Chekov called, rushing over to them from where he'd been writing calculations on a clear board, pulling Scotty and Victoria's attention back to them, leading them to walk over as well.

"Yes, Chekov," Kirk turned to him, "What is it?"

"Based on the fastest course from Wulcan, I have projected that Nero will travel past Saturn. Like you said, we need to stay inwisible to Nero or he'll destroy us. If Mr. Scott and Wictoria can get us to warp factor four, and if we drop out of warp behind one of Saturn's moons, say…Titan, the magnetic distortion from the planet's rings will make us inwisible to Nero's sensors. From there, as long as the drill is not actiwated we can beam aboard the enemy ship."

"Victoria?" Kirk looked at her for confirmation, making her smile.

"It's sound," she agreed, following the logic and calculations easily enough being in engineering, "Right Scotty?"

"Aye," the man nodded, "That might work."

"Wait a minute, kid, how old are you?" Bones shot Chekov a look.

"Sewenteen, sir," Chekov grinned.

"Oh, oh good, he's seventeen!" Bones remarked sarcastically.

"I hacked into the USS Farragut when I was 15…from Earth," Victoria shrugged…and they all looked at her, "It's not that hard! And if I could do it then, why can't Chekov work that out at 17?"

"Doctor," a voice called from behind them. They looked back to see Spock step onto the Bridge, "Mr. Chekov is correct. I can confirm his telemetry. If Mr. Sulu is able to maneuver us into position, I can beam aboard Nero's ship, steal back the black hole device, and if possible, bring back Captain Pike."

Kirk shook his head, "I won't allow you to do that, Mr. Spock."

"Romulans and Vulcans share a common ancestry. Our cultural similarities will make it easier for me to access the ship's computer to locate the device. Also…" he took a breath, "My mother was Human, which makes Earth the only home I have left."

"I'm coming with you."

"I would cite regulation, but I know you will simply ignore it."

"See," Kirk smirked, "We _are_ getting to know each other."

"I'm coming too," Victoria stepped over to them.

"No," Kirk turned to her.

"James…"

"YOU'RE my First Officer," he reminded her, "You have to stay here Victoria and command the ship in the Captain's absence…"

"You don't understand…I HAVE to go with you to get him back."

"Why?" he shook his head, "Victoria, this is too important for you to…"

"To what?" she glared, "Tag along? Prove myself? That's NOT why I need to go!"

"You don't NEED to go! I, as the acting captain, am ordering you, as my First Officer, to stay here."

"Fine, then I resign, Bones can be your First Officer then. I am GOING with you!"

"Why!?" he started to shout, well, they'd been shouting for a while now, but Bones seemed to know enough of their spats to stay back and gesture the others NOT to get in the middle of them, "What's so important about this mission that you…"

"He's my father!" Victoria snapped, cutting him off, the entire room falling silent.

"I am…confused," Spock said after a moment, glancing around at the Cadets staring at her, "You were…unaware of this?" he looked at Kirk. He had done some digging about the two Cadets, seen just how often they got in trouble, how often they got in trouble together. With a bond as close as they appeared to have…how could Kirk NOT know her last name was Pike?

"Your…father?" Kirk started blinking rapidly as he stared at Victoria, noticing, for the first time that there were tears in her eyes.

He should have known…he really should have. Victoria was…very defensive when it was something that affected her deeply. She shut down, she turned it off, she pushed it down and ignored it and pretended like she was fine so as not to let on about how much it affected her. If it had been any other person, besides him, Uhura, or Bones, she'd be noticeably upset and worried. But for the three of them…she'd turn it off. Because if she thought about it, if she let herself worry about it…she'd be useless in helping. She always did that, just…shut it all down, locked it away and put it on a shelf till it was over.

He should have realized she was doing the same with Pike. It was what she did with her mother, whenever he talked about her or brought her up or asked about her. She would go emotionless, or wave it off, or act like she didn't care at all about the woman…and he knew she really DID still care no matter how much she let on. She'd done it with Pike, she'd pushed her fear for his wellbeing aside, he was almost sure that a small part of her punching Spock to get kicked off was because it would have killed her to be ON the Enterprise and KNOW there was nothing she could do to get them to go help the man. If she was trapped on Delta Vega, it would be physically impossible for her to do anything and it wouldn't be her fault if nothing happened and Pike was hurt.

"You spent three years, James, trying to figure out Nyota's first name?" Victoria shook her head, gesturing absently at Uhura, Kirk not even noticing she'd said the girl's first name, "You never even realized you didn't know MY _last_ name."

"Your father…" he repeated, feeling the air sucked out of him, "You never said…"

"You never wanted to use YOUR father's name to get anything," she reminded him, swallowing hard.

It made sense to him now, her vague references to her father, how he was obsessed with the Kelvin…like Pike was. How he'd researched it, like Pike had. How he was a captain of a ship, had a history in the fleet, was divorced, and so many other things that she'd randomly mention in passing…it was all about Pike. She'd said that her recruiter had convinced her to join the Fleet…he'd just thought it was because Pike was the recruiter, and it was…but it was more because Pike, her recruiter, was her father as well.

And now he was being tortured by Romulans and SHE had a chance to go help him.

"Please James," she whispered, "The last thing he said to me…was that he was disappointed in me," her voice broke at that and she cleared it quickly, not wanting the others to hear it, though she knew they all had, "I just…need this…" she looked at him pleadingly, "I just want to…make him proud and help him."

Kirk looked at her a long while, he understood her hidden words as well. If he'd had the chance to save his father…he'd take it in a heartbeat. If Spock could have saved his mother, he would have. And now…Victoria had that chance…how could he turn her down?

"Ok," he nodded, "Bones," he looked at the other man, "Keep an eye on things."

Bones nodded.

"Let's go then," Victoria turned and strode out of the room, Spock and Kirk behind her.

~8~

Kirk, Spock, Victoria, and Uhura entered the transport room just as Sulu's voice came over the comms., "Transporter room. We are in position above Titan."

"Really?" Scotty, who had beaten them there to get things ready while they'd gone to go get phasers, called, "Fine job, Mr. Sulu. Well done."

"Are we ready Scotty?" Victoria looked at him.

"Unbelievably the ship _is_ in position."

"Whatever happens, Mr. Sulu," Kirk called through the comms., "If you think you have the tactical advantage, you fire on that ship, even if we're still onboard. That's an order."

"Yes, sir," Sulu replied.

"Otherwise, we'll contact the Enterprise when we're ready to be beamed back."

"Good luck."

The comm. cut out and Kirk glanced at Victoria, reaching out to take her hand before they headed for the transporter pad, only to see Spock was already standing on one…with Uhura before him, the two kissing.

"Don't," Victoria pointed at Kirk as they took their places, the man turning to her with his mouth open, "Get any ideas," she warned, "You get us all out of there alive, the three of us and the captain…and THEN I'll kiss you."

Kirk smiled at that, actually pleased nothing had really change between them even after they semi-told the other their feelings, "Challenge accepted."

"And you still owe me that drink," she muttered.

He laughed at that, and glanced at Spock and Uhura…STILL kissing, "Any time you're ready Mr. Spock," he cut in, if HE couldn't kiss Victoria, then Spock shouldn't be able to kiss Uhura.

"I will be back," Spock whispered to the woman as he pulled away.

"You better be," Uhura told him, before stepping back off the platform, glancing at the three of them, "I'll be monitoring your frequency."

"Thanks," Victoria smiled as the woman nodded and rushed out.

"Okey-dokey then," Scotty cheered, "If there's any common sense in the design of the enemy ship, I should be putting you somewhere in the cargo bay. There shouldn't be a soul in sight."

Victoria let out a breath at that, knowing that when someone said something like that, it was almost always wrong.

"Energize," Kirk ordered and the lights of transport swirled around them, depositing them in the middle of the Narada Cargo Bay…that was FILLED with Romulans who started screaming at them in their language the second they noticed the trio standing there.

The Enterprise team quickly ducked to the side, rushing to hide behind whatever cover they could find as the Romulans opened fire, the three of them trying to hit them back.

"Captain!" they could hear one calling over the shouts, "We have Starfleet officers aboard the ship. One of them is Vulcan."

The trio aimed as carefully as they could, managing to take out the Romulans in the area, the ones they could see at least.

Victoria leaned over, spotting a Romulan lying injured a few feet before her, she really was a really bad shot when facing someone dead on. It was like…if she was facing them and they were heading for her, she ended up hitting them everywhere but the heart or head, like…the shoulder, the knee caps, the side…she didn't know why, but she was better at reactionary shots. Like when someone snuck up behind her and she just turned and pulled the trigger…then she was a fair shot…but the Romulan currently squirming on the ground and clutching his leg had been one she'd struck down.

"Spock," she nodded at it, "We'll cover you."

Spock nodded and got up, heading over to the Romulan and quickly slamming the butt of his phaser across its face to knock him out, allowing him to reach out and touch the man's temple, mind melding with him, seeing what he knew.

Kirk jumped forward and blasted a Romulan that was trying to sneak up on the man, making Spock spin around, "Do you know where it is? The black hole device?"

Spock nodded, standing, "Yes," before he glanced at Victoria, "And Captain Pike."

Victoria swallowed, "Let's go then."

A/N: Some of you guessed it, Victoria Pike ;) Congrats to you! I hope, even though you sort of knew, that you enjoyed the little twist of him being her father...because...Into Darkness... }:)

Sorry this was late :( I lost internet at my house and had to wait till I got to work to post this :(

Also, I just wanted to say I'm so sorry to anyone who reads my DW spin-offs but...I'm going to have to put a temporary hold on updating them just for this month (I hope). Work/real life has really sucked up my time and I've fallen about a week behind in my planned writing :( I just want to try and use the rest of February to catch up with that (on top of not falling more behind in the process) and I haven't been able to manage the spin-offs while doing that :( I'm really SO sorry that we won't be getting updates for February :'( But I'll be posting the chapters as soon as I've caught up :)


	10. Rescue Mission

Rescue Mission

Victoria and Kirk followed closely behind Spock as he led them through the halls of the Narada, all of them being as cautious as they could…well, as cautious as Kirk knew they could be with Victoria on a warpath. He understood completely why, every time they hit a corner, instead of peeking around it, she just strode past it with her phaser out and ready. Which was why he ran out with her, firing at whatever Romulans might be ahead of them. He knew, from quite a bit of experience, that Victoria wasn't exactly the best shot facing someone head on. He was still trying to work out who she could be a good shot when she was startled but not when she had time to actually aim. He'd actually been the one to find out that little detail about her, something not even she knew about herself. It had been an accident really, he'd sort of snuck up on her in one of the target rooms, those phasers were more for show, like a water gun but with a flash of light instead of something set to stun. She'd been wearing small earphones and he'd thought it would be funny to throw a candy at her from the pile in his hand. He'd spooked her and she'd spun around, firing without realizing she had…and hit him dead in the chest.

Good thing it had just been a burst of light, hardly even gave him a shock really.

But it had been something they'd tested out a little more, and he was really pleased with himself that HE had been the one to notice that about her, to point it out to her. It was like how she'd pointed out that he had very good aim when throwing things instead of just with a phaser. He'd nailed her right in the center of the back with that candy.

Spock would have rolled his eyes if the human emotion had been a bit stronger in him, at how reckless Victoria was being. He could…empathize with her. He had been on a one track mind when Vulcan was in jeopardy, he'd forsaken his crew, risked his life, and sent himself right onto a planet he knew was on the verge of being made into a black hole just in the hope of saving his mother and father. And now…Victoria had the chance to do the same for her father, and he was determined to ensure that she, unlike him and Kirk, did not lose a parent. He was well aware of the situation with Victoria's mother, Pike's ex-wife, but the fact was that the former Mrs. Pike WAS still alive. His mother was dead, Kirk's father was dead, and neither of them wanted to see another parent lost to the Romulans.

He led them, as quickly as he could, right into the ship that contained the black hole device, the…red matter, if he recalled correctly from the Romulan's mind. And it did appear to be just that, it was like a large glass tube was set up in the middle of the stark white room of the ship, a large red ball hanging in the middle of it, hovering there.

"I foresee a complication," he began, looking around the ship before turning his attention to Kirk and Victoria, "The design of this ship is far more advanced than I've anticipated."

"Voice print and face recognition analysis enabled," a computerized voice called out before either human could open their mouths to comment or try to offer suggestions, "Welcome back, Ambassador Spock."

Spock blinked at that, frowning at how the computer had not only recognized him, but what it called him. He could guess, given the technology, that this ship was from the future as well, but…if the future ship recognized him…wouldn't that mean HE was there too, from the future? If so…where was he?

"Wow," Kirk began slowly, trying to seem innocent and only serving to make Victoria close her eyes and shake her head at him for it, "That's weird."

Spock eyed him a moment, "Computer, what is your manufacturing origin?" he asked it, wanting to test his theory but also to learn just how far into the future the Narada and Nero had come from. If it was a short distance into the future, perhaps they could prevent whatever it was that had led to Nero coming…

No, that would cause a paradox wouldn't it? If they prevented whatever it was that led Nero to them…then the attack on the Kelvin would never have happened. Yes, Kirk would have his father again, but…it would also mean that the event that would trigger this alert to them about some future event would never have happened. That timeline would continue on as normal, and the event that had sent Nero after them would occur as it originally did. Which would just send Nero after them and attacking the Kelvin and them trying to prevent the event and just end up as an endless circle of paradoxes.

"Stardate 2387," the computer answered, "Commissioned by the Vulcan Science Academy."

"Did you have to add THAT part?" Victoria muttered to it, knowing that now Spock was without a doubt convinced that the ship had to have come from the alternate reality, the original one, where Vulcan still existed. She'd seen it on his face before, seen him working out what the ship was and who might be there.

Spock turned to the two of them, "It appears that you have been keeping important information from me."

"You'll be able to fly this thing, right?" was all Kirk countered in reply, not willing to risk the Universe ending just because he told Spock something that could affect the future like his future-self warned.

"Something tells me I already have."

"Well then go with that feeling," Victoria said quickly, turning to Kirk, "We really need to find the Captain now."

Kirk nodded and glanced at Spock as he took Victoria's hand to lead her off, "Good luck."

"Wait," Spock called, making them stop in their leaving to turn and face him again, "The statistical likelihood that our plan will succeed is less than 4.3%."

"And since it's James's plan, let's round that down to 4%," Victoria quipped.

Kirk rolled his eyes, knowing that she was only saying that jokingly…even if it might be true… "It'll work," he promised them both.

Spock just stood straighter, looking at them with a grim quality to his expression, a minute quality, his expressions were very hard to read at times, "In the event that I do not return, please tell Lieutenant Uhura..."

"Spock, it'll work," Kirk cut in.

"And YOU tell her yourself when we get back," Victoria added, "Trust me…it'll mean more coming from YOU than a message from us."

"Come on," Kirk took her hand once more, leading her out of the small ship and back into the Narada, they had a captain to find, not just that, a father to rescue because…in the three years he'd been there…Pike had actually become like a father figure to him, just…a good man that he looked up to. He really, REALLY should have seen the family resemblance between him and Victoria though.

He looked up to her as well.

~8~

Kirk and Victoria ran into the drill deck of the Narada, having spotted Nero standing there, both of them with their phasers out and aimed at the Romulan, who merely turned to look at them, "Nero," Kirk began, "Order your men to disable the drill…"

"And release Captain Pike," Victoria cut in, her grip on her phaser tightening.

"Or we will…"

Kirk was cut off as another Romulan attacked him from behind, knocking him down, Nero reaching out to grab Victoria's phaser as she turned to Kirk and yanking it out of her hand, backhanding her and sending her to the ground as well.

Nero smirked as he looked at the two fallen humans, "You have your father's eyes," Nero hissed at Victoria, sending a swift kick to her chest, forcing her back, sending her rolling across the floor, gasping in pain as the other Romulan held Kirk back, "I can see the resemblance," he sneered, starting to smirk, "You both look the same when you're writhing in pain."

"Nero!" Kirk shouted, doing whatever he could to draw Nero's attention away from Victoria, even if it meant throwing his head back to knock out the second Romulan and break free of his grip, rushing at the man, trying to attack him.

Nero turned and grabbed his arm and a fight commenced between the two, Victoria gasping and panting, trying to get breath enough back to help him.

"I know your face from Earth's history," Nero told Kirk as he gained the upper hand, "James T. Kirk was considered to be a great man. He went on to marry Victoria Pike, become captain the USS Enterprise…" he laughed, slamming Kirk to the floor, "But that was another life," he stood over the man, rising with Kirk's phaser in hand, "A life I will deprive you of, just like I did your father. But not before I deprive you of another you love," he turned and made his way over to Victoria, ignoring Kirk's shouts of 'no!' as the man struggled to find the strength to get up and stop him. He gave a hefty stomp onto Victoria's already injured hand, making her cry out in pain, flailing onto her back and clutching her hand to her chest.

He shook his head, "And that is where the family resemblance ends," he taunted her, "Your father cried," he spat at her, seeing tears in her eyes before he raised the phaser, aiming it at her head.

Victoria let out a strangled scream, swinging her one leg out, sweeping his leg out from under him and sending Nero onto his back, before she twisted, using both legs to give the man a fierce shove with as much force as she could manage with her two legs, sending him toppling over the edge of the platform they'd fallen on before she flopped back onto her back, panting.

"Tory!" Kirk called, scrambling over to her side, reaching out to check her hand, knowing it had to be killing her, "Tor…"

"I'm fine," she swallowed hard, "I'll be ok Jim."

He took a breath before helping her up, glancing over the edge of the platform to see that Nero hadn't fallen all that far, only onto the next platform just below them, the two ducking back as he fired Kirk's phaser back up at them, trying to hit them, when he froze…

"Captain Nero!" a voice called over the comms., "The Vulcan ship has been taken, the drill has been destroyed!"

"Spock!" Nero screamed, turning to run out of the drill room, "SPOCK!"

"Come on," Kirk took her uninjured hand, turning to go…when the Romulan he'd knocked out appeared behind them and threw a punch at him, Kirk ducking under the swing, "Phaser!" he shouted to her, before jumping back from another swing and rushing off to lead the Romulan away to give her time.

Victoria looked around, realizing that Nero had only taken one of the phasers, HER phaser was still there. She spun in a circle before she finally spotted it half hidden in one of the many shadows of the platform. She ran for it, half stumbling to her knees as the pain in her hand reared up at her sudden jolt forward, she grabbed the phaser with her good hand, SO thankful that her father had been wise enough to teach her how to throw a punch with her weaker hand and still make it powerful. He had been in a fight on more than one occasion where someone had intercepted the punch early and twisted his arm up his back, once they even broke his arm in reaction. He'd learned that people would assume that the punching arm was the strong arm and think they'd incapacitated an opponent if they attacked the punching arm.

It was really, REALLY good he'd thought to teacher this, because she was a terrible enough shot as it was than to try and have her shoot with her weaker hand.

She spun around, rushing over to where Kirk and the other Romulan were fighting, pushing herself even faster when the Romulan grabbed Kirk by the throat and lifted him into the air.

"Your species is even weaker than I expected," she heard the Romulan sneer at him.

But she knew that Kirk was barely paying attention to what the Romulan was saying as his gaze was locked on HER over its shoulder, "I can't..."

The Romulan squeezed his throat extra tight, cutting him off, "You can't even speak. What?"

"Nero took MY gun," Kirk smirked.

The Romulan seemed to gather what Kirk meant and dropped him suddenly, spinning around only to see that Victoria was right behind him, too close where not even her own terrible aim could save him, the woman not even giving him a single moment before she fired, the man falling to his knees and then toppling off the side of the platform.

Kirk winced as the phaser blasted right through the man's neck, "Ouch…"

"I was aiming for his forehead," Victoria sighed, shaking her head at that, it was a gruesome way to die but luckily, in a way, the Romulan fell down over the side of the platform as well and crashed on a lower floor…if the blast hadn't killed him, the fall definitely had.

Just as they were about to turn and go after Pike, the entire ship shook.

"What the hell!?" Kirk gasped, rushing to a side window to see that the Enterprise had arrived, Spock at the helm, he was supposed to give him a few more days there, possibly a week, to try and find some more information.

"There's no time James," Victoria ran over and took his hand, pulling him away from the window, "Right now we have to rescue the captain."

Kirk nodded and turned, rushing after her out of the room, knowing that they had to be close to the 'prisoner' if there were so many guards lingering about, "This way," he turned around a corner, dashing into a room and firing Victoria's phaser at a Romulan that was standing above Pike, the man still alive but barely, strapped to some sort of board.

They didn't even wait for the Romulan to fall to the ground before they were racing over to the man, checking him over.

"Captain Pike," Kirk reached for him, trying to get the straps binding him undone, tossing Victoria back her phaser as she tried to wake him instead, "Captain, Pike sir?"

"Dad?" Victoria tried, gently shaking him, "Dad…wake up. Dad!"

Pike winced, starting to blink rapidly as he opened his eyes, looking at Victoria with a frown, not even seeming to notice Kirk standing there, "Tory?" he murmured, his voice hoarse and weak, "What are…what are you…"

"We had to save you dad."

"We?" he frowned, but she nodded across to Kirk who winked at him.

"Captain's orders too."

He gave her a weary grin, "Finally starting to…listen to orders?"

"Not a chance," she offered him a smile too…spin around and fire at a Romulan that was trying to sneak up on them.

Pike let out a wheezing laugh at that, "Still can't fire without surprise?" he teased.

"We can't all be as amazing as you dad," she murmured, realizing she was calling him 'dad' more in this moment than she did in a year.

Pike reached out and put a hand on hers as she moved to try and get the straps holding him to the board on her side off. He stilled her and looked into her eyes, "I am SO proud of you Victoria," he told her, and he was.

Despite how she constantly got into fights and detainment (he blamed Kirk for at least half of them), how little she usually listened to the captain, how disrespectful he knew she could be…he WAS proud of her. Here she was, risking her life to save him, following orders at the same time to boot.

Victoria looked at him, an expression that broke his (and Kirk's) heart to see that she actually looked disbelieving that he'd say that, "You…are?"

Pike nodded, "More than ever."

"More than when I got into the Cadet program?"

"More than that."

Victoria started to smile at that, when they heard the sound of more Romulans coming after them, all of them shouting about how the 'Vulcan's ship' was heading right for them. Kirk quickly called out into their comms., "Enterprise go!"

The familiar white lights surrounded the three of them, depositing them back on the transport pad of the Enterprise, Spock appearing right beside them, having been saved from the ship he had set on a collision course with the Narada on.

"Perfect timing Scotty," Victoria smiled at the man at the transport controls.

"Ha ha ha ha!" Scotty cheered, "I've never beamed four people from two targets onto one pad before!"

"Jim!" Bones ran in, "Vick!"

"Bones!" Kirk laughed, stumbling forward with Pike between him and Victoria.

"I've got him," Bones rushed over to take the man and examine him.

"That was pretty good," Scotty grinned.

"And it's not over yet," Kirk agreed, glancing at Victoria who was still supporting Pike. She gave him a nod and he turned and ran out of the room with Spock, Victoria and Bones trying to get Pike to the medbay. She may not like it, she may hate that room, but…she could get her father INTO it right? And when he was all taken care of she would be out of there faster than a squirrel on hot asphalt…

She blinked at that, she was starting to sound like Bones.

~8~

Kirk and Spock ran onto the Bridge, Chekov being the first to spot them and report their status, "Captain, the enemy ship is losing power. Their shields are down, sir."

"Hail them now," Kirk ordered.

"Aye."

Kirk took another step forward as Nero appeared on the viewscreen, a small image to the side showing them the Narada being sucked into a black hole that had formed when the ship Spock had been in, the one containing the 'red matter' had crashed with the ship, the force of it initiating the red matter into creating the hole.

"This is Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise," Kirk stated, "Your ship is compromised. You're too close to the singularity to provide assistance, which we will provide."

"Captain, what are you doing?" Spock frowned at him, not having expected this at all.

"You show them compassion may be the only way to earn peace with Romulus. It's logic, Spock," he glanced at the Vulcan, "Thought you'd like that."

"No, not really. Not this time. And I rather suspect Victoria will, how do you put it, have your head for offering this to Nero as well."

"Well, what Victoria doesn't know won't hurt her," Kirk remarked, already knowing Nero would turn down his request.

And turn it down he did, "I would rather suffer the end of Romulus a thousand times," the Romulan spat, "I would rather die in agony than accept assistance from you!"

Kirk nodded at that, shrugging, "You got it. Arm phasers, fire everything we got."

"Yes, sir," Sulu put in the command, the Enterprise firing at the enemy ship, destroying it as it sunk further and further into the black hole.

Kirk grinned, seeing that, "Sulu, let's go home!"

"Yes, sir!"

But the smile on Kirk's face started to fade as, instead of warping away, they just drifted closer and close to the black hole, "Why aren't we at warp?"

"We are, sir," Chekov confirmed.

Kirk frowned and turned to the comm., "Kirk to engineering. Get us out of here, Scotty!"

"You bet your arse, Captain!" Scotty's voice drifted over to them, before a grunt sounded, "Captain Kirk, the gravity well has got us!"

"Go to maximum warp. Push it!"

"I'm giving her all that she's got, Captain!"

Kirk winced, the entire room flinching as the Bridge began to crack, other areas of the ship straining not to get caught in the black hole as well.

"James what did you do!?" Victoria shouted as she ran onto the Bridge, having heard his transmission to engineering, and now this, all the jerking and straining and cracking, "I left you alone for not even 5 minutes!"

"It's not my fault!" Kirk defended, about to turn back to the comm. when he recalled, "You're in engineering!" he pointed at her.

"A better time to discuss professions would be appreciated James!"

"No…no not that," he grinned, "How do we escape the black hole?"

She stared at him, "You expect ME to answer that?"

"You always have an answer for me."

She blinked, she had to agree there, "Um…" she shook her head, thinking about it, "Oh!" she cheered, grinning, "I've got it…Scotty!" she ran to the comms., "Eject the core then detonate it. It should…"

"Give us enough of a boost to push us away!" Scotty finished, "It cannae be guaranteed that it'll do anything, though!"

"Don't care, just do it," Kirk ordered, "Do it, do it!"

They turned to the viewscreen to see quite a few warp cores let loose into space, being pulled towards the black hole and, just as they passed the ship, they exploded, sending out a small wave of energy, pushing the ship out and out and out, till they were able to safely get away. The crew cheered, turning to hug each other, Bones, who had come to check on the trio, abruptly turned on his heel and headed back out of the room once more when he walked in to see Kirk pulling Victoria into a celebratory kiss.

She was like his little sister…he did NOT need to see that.

~8~

Kirk and Victoria stood with the rest of the Enterprise Cadets before the academic board once more, though this time for a FAR happier occasion than to debate ethical decisions and contemplate expulsion for. The two of them had been cleared of the accusations against them in dealing with the Kobayashi Maru, oh they were still on record as having hacked the system, cheated, and quite a few other things, but after their actions on the Enterprise, the offense had been forgive, especially after Spock had withdrawn his complaint and report about it.

"This assembly calls Captain James Tiberius Kirk," Barnett called as he stood before the gathered Cadets who had survived the attack on Vulcan, not many were there, not Victoria's roommate, or Uhura's…which had upset both women greatly to realize as it likely meant they'd died coming out of warp to help Vulcan.

Kirk stepped forward, glancing back at Victoria who nodded encouragingly, she really was keeping true to her word about not wanting to be anything involved with captain, engineering and its liaison role were the best match for her. Right now, he was being honored and being promoted as well, something she wanted for him more than for herself.

"Your inspirational valor and supreme dedication to your comrades is in keeping with the highest traditions of service," Barnett continued, "And to reflect utmost credit to yourself, your crew, and the Federation, it is my honor to award you with this commendation. By Starfleet Order 28455, you are hereby directed to report to Admiral Pike, USS Enterprise, for duty as his relief."

Kirk smiled and turned over to Pike, the man sitting in his white uniform, in a wheelchair, Victoria behind him, her hands resting on the small handles of it. He looked at Victoria a moment before turning his head to Pike, "I relieve you, sir."

Pike nodded softly, "I am relieved."

"Thank you, sir," Kirk took a breath, savoring the moment.

"Congratulations, Captain," Victoria had to add, making Kirk send her a wink.

"Your father would be proud," Pike told him, not seeing his daughter and the new captain smiling at each other as he looked around the room, though he missed an older Vulcan who looked remarkably like Spock watching them from above.

~8~

"Engineering thrusters and impulse engines at your command, sir," Sulu called to Kirk as he entered the Bridge of the Enterprise, now dressed in a proper Captain's uniform, Victoria beside him in her red Engineering uniform, ready to take up her role as engineering liaison.

"Weapons systems and chutes on standby," Chekov added.

"Dock control reports ready, Captain," Uhura smiled at the two of them.

"Bones," Kirk patted the man's shoulder as he passed, "Buckle up."

"Scotty," he looked over to see Victoria at the comms. reserved for the liaison, already getting to work, "Are we good?"

"Dilithium chambers at maximum, Lassie," Scotty reported.

"Mr. Sulu, prepare to engage thrusters," Kirk began, moving to sit on the captain's chair, looking around the room a moment before considering if he should change the location of it, Victoria's spot was too far away for him to be able to reach out and take her hand and that wouldn't do.

They looked over when they heard the lift doors open to see Spock standing there, "Permission to come aboard, Captain?"

"Permission granted," Kirk nodded.

"As you have yet to select a First Officer with Victoria refusing the role, respectfully, I would like to submit my candidacy. Should you desire, I can provide character references."

Kirk chuckled at that, "It would be my honor, Commander," he nodded to himself at that before he slapped the armrests of his chair, getting up, "Liaison Pike," he called, he was slowly getting used to that, to her being Victoria Pike instead of just Victoria (Kirk), "A word," he nodded to the side.

Victoria frowned but got up, for one brief moment fearing he might say that, because he was captain and she was a member of the crew that it wouldn't be wise for them to be together…before she realized that her parents had been together and members of the same crew and that Kirk was the clinging type, once he had something he did NOT let it go.

"What is it?" she asked, joining him in the back by the turbolift doors.

"What's wrong?" he countered with a question of his own.

"What do you mean?"

"I know your expressions Victoria," he began, "You've got your worrying face on, the one where you might be over-thinking things. So…what is it?"

She sighed, "I just…I wanted to ask you something."

"Go ahead," he gestured for her to do it.

"What are we?" she asked, "I mean…what do you want us to be?"

"What do YOU want us to be?" he countered.

"Together," she answered promptly, "Even though I asked you first."

He smiled, "I want…us," he told her honestly, "I want there to be an us too."

"We need to see if it'll work though," she warned him, "Just because another us were married, doesn't me WE'RE the same."

"I don't want us to be the same," he shrugged, "I like us being different, I like us how we are," he reached out to take her hand, "We really DO fit. I just want to see where it goes, no pressure, no expectations, just...us, being US."

She smiled at that and nodded, they just had to make sure that they fit well enough to not fall to pieces again, "You know…it's actually the best thing that could have happened that you've taken over for my father."

"How's that?" he asked, genuinely curious. Pike had been the BEST captain either of them had encountered, and it wasn't just them, the other professors and captains in the Academy spoke about him often.

She smirked at him, "He won't be so 'relieved' when he finds out we're together," she nudged him, turning to head back to her post.

Kirk blinked and swallowed hard, he…honestly hadn't thought of that. He'd spent so long thinking of Pike as JUST captain Pike that to find out he was Victoria's father it still didn't make sense to him that the two men were one in the same. And he realized now though…Pike was Victoria's father…Victoria was his only daughter.

He really, REALLY hoped that Pike would remember to set his phaser to stun when they eventually told the man about their budding relationship.

He cleared his throat, not wanting to let on how suddenly terrified he was and starting to think that some distance between them and Earth (Pike) would be a good thing, "Maneuvering thrusters, Mr. Sulu?" he looked at the man.

"Thrusters on standby," Sulu nodded.

Kirk moved to sit back on the captain's chair, "Take us out."

"Aye aye, Captain," Sulu grinned and the ship warped off, Kirk glancing over at Victoria as she looked back at him, both of them so excited to see where the future would take them.

~8~

"_Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new lifeforms and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before._"

To be continued...in...Amor Vincit Omnia!

A/N: I can't believe it's over! O.O We're halfway through the Log! I can say that for this story I'm going to be giving a day's break between this story and AVO. So the first chapter for that will be up on the 15th ;)

I just want to take a second to say thank you! To all of you who read/reviewed/favorited/followed/anything this story it really means a lot to me and I'm really so grateful that I have you guys as readers, you're awesome! I'm really touched you liked the story and I hope that I can continue to deliver in Into Darkness for you too :) I love you guys :')

Some notes on reviews...

I won't be posting any spin-offs for February :( There may be a chance for a Valentine's themed one but not till (hopefull) next month. The Spinoffs are on hold till I catch up on my writing :)


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